Fame and Friendship
by Theweatherman53
Summary: I'm Austin Moon, I like to have fun just like the next guy, but there's one thing I've always taken very seriously and that's my singing career. That's what this little journal is about. It's the real story behind my rise to fame and maybe some love interest stuff thrown in as well.
1. My First Step

My life has changed so much in the past few days I feel like I need to start writing them all down. Who knows maybe this journal will eventually become a best selling book, I am famous after all. Anyway, I'm Austin Moon and a few days ago I was an ordinary high school freshman and now I'm a rising pop sensation. I'm not sure what really started my love for music, my parents made me take music and dance lessons starting at a very early age, but I don't think I fell in love with music until Middle school. At the end of my eighth grade year there was a school wide talent show and my best friends Dez pretty much made me sign up. He's always got my back and I love him for that. Anyway I performed some crazy pop song and had an absolute blast doing. I realized then just how much I loved performing for other people and feeding off the energy of a crowd, its thrilling. And it doesn't hurt that all the girls in the audience seemed to fall in love with me, that's a nice bonus.

After that night all I could think about was becoming a musical superstar. I've never been good at school and though I'm a pretty talented athlete I've never felt all that fulfilled playing sports. So I was thrilled to finally find something that I was good at and just had tons of fun doing. Dez, my parents, and pretty much every girl in my school told me I was really great. Dez told me it was his goal in life to make me a star. He said he was gonna direct a music video cool enough to go viral and be seen by millions.

I guess I should explain that Dez has this crazy dream to become a movie director. Well I used to think it was a crazy dream, but now that I'm gonna be a mega music star I guess anything is possible. Anyway after that night Dez and I spent all summer trying to figure out what song I should sing for the video and how to make the video. We didn't have tons of luck, I'm not much of a song writer and neither of us is all that focused. We are both very easily distracted so very little work actually got done that summer.

By the time school hit and we both entered High School we realized how much time we wasted over the summer and decided that we just needed to brainstorm and figure out the video and hope a song would come to us. The video part came easy once I told Dez how many instruments I could play. He's the creative genius in our duo and he had the awesome idea to have me playing all the different instruments and singing and edit each different "Austin" into the same shot. It sounded really cool and I wanted to give it a try.

So one day last week Dez and I went to this awesome music shop at the mall called Sonic Boom to try to figure out which instruments I should be playing and maybe borrow or rent the ones we would need to make the video. That's the day I met Ally and the day that shook up my life a bit.

Dez and I were messing around with the drums in this shop; I'm pretty sure I was playing the drums with corndogs. Anyway that's when Ally came over and freaked out about me playing the drums at all, I guess there was some sign or something that I completely missed. Anyway it was kinda cute how Ally tried to be all mean and strict about the whole thing, I just laughed it off and apologized and told her about the music video I wanted to make and asked her if maybe she'd wanna let us borrow some instruments for a night or two. Once again this tiny little girl tried to turn into this mean authoritarian. I couldn't help but smirk a little bit, but it seemed like we really made her a little upset and we definitely weren't gonna be getting any instruments from her.

So we decided to hit up the food court and get some Minis pizzas. I kinda felt bad for putting that girl ally in such a mood and for some reason I just couldn't let it go so I decided I was gonna go back and apologize after we finished eating. I told Dez to go home and plan out how he wanted to shoot the video. I told him I wanted to try one more time to get the instruments.

I went back to Sonic Boom, but Ally wasn't there anymore and I was disappointed, though I'm not really sure why. But just when I was about to leave I heard a faint song coming from an upstairs office or something and wanted to check it out. So when the weird guy behind the counter wasn't looking I sneaked up the stairs to try to get a closer look. The door at the end of the hall was open just the slightest bit, and I quietly went up to it and looked in.

Ally was playing the piano and singing along. I never would have guessed that she would be that talented, but damn can that girl sing. And the song she was singing was pretty sweet, I was almost immediately singing along. I decided to walk in quietly and approach her about the song.

"I like the song but I think its missing something."

Ally jumped when she realized I was in the room, "What are you doing here? How long have you been listening?"

She spoke really fast and kind of blushed lightly, it made me laugh a bit, "I wanted to come apologize about earlier and heard your song from downstairs."

Her eyes went big, "You could hear me downstairs!"

"Yeah and I meant what I said its a good song, but I think you should speed it up a bit. Maybe add a little pop to it." I sat down next to her sped up the song a bit and sang along. She seemed to get excited and took over playing the piano and started to sing with me. We sounded pretty awesome together and I really liked the song. I think it was just my innate male desire to impress every girl who gives me even the slightest of glances, but I decided to get up and dance a little bit while we sang.

I know my life is in for a huge change in the coming weeks and months, but I don't think I'll remember anything more clearly than those few moments with Ally singing and messing around in her practice room. That's also why I'll never regret anything more in my life than what I did next.

I don't totally know why I did it, I had my reasons. I made myself believe it wasn't a big deal. That maybe I was actually doing her a favor by stealing her song and actually getting people to listen to it. Regardless I know now that it was a horrible mistake, I could have totally blown my friendship with Ally before it even started.

The story pretty much goes like this. After Ally and I hung out and sang together for an hour or so I remembered I had to go meet Dez and try to work on our video. When I showed up at his place he had somehow managed to get a whole bunch of instruments for us to use. I couldn't believe it, but I guess he has some crazy aunt who collects instruments or something, but I wasn't about to complain.

Our problem then became the song, we got everything set up to shoot, but we still didn't have a song and I knew we had to get something going if we were ever gonna get the video done, so I just figured we'd use Ally's song. I guess I just didn't really consider the consequences; I figured the video probably wouldn't amount to much so I doubted if it would hurt anything. Little did I know that the video would go viral.

Dez must have stayed up all night editing that video because by the time I got to school the next morning he had already started showing to everyone he could find. He get's excited very easily. It was an odd feeling when I got to school that morning it was Dez showing everyone the video. After first period I was seeing random kids in the hallway watching the video. By lunch time everyone at school was staring at me, girls were giggling and smiling and I knew our video must be a pretty big hit.

That's when it hit me. Ally had to have seen the video by then. So I skipped lunch to try and find Ally and explain what happened. I can't believe that I was so stupid to forget about her feelings and steal the song she worked really hard on. Anyway I sprinted all over the school trying to hunt her down. Eventually I gave up and sat down against my locker.

I try to be a good guy I really do, but for some reason I always make stupid mistakes. I'm not sure why Dez even sticks by me as a friend, I can be a real jerk. I'm sure its the reason that Dez is my only real friend. And it seems like I always ruin any chance at getting new friends. It gets pretty depressing that's why I was sulking against my locker, I was positive that I had ruined any chance at a friendship with Ally and I was mad at myself. As I sulked a loud and angry girl rushed down the hallway with me in her sights. Her name was Trish and she was Ally's best friend and I certainly wasn't prepared for what was coming my way.

"HOW DARE YOU!" Trish screamed at me and I was startled out of my stupor as Trish towered over me with her hand on her hip. "I can't believe you would take advantage of Ally like that! You are a jerk and I hope you wake up with scorpions in your bed every morning from now until the day you die!" And at that she stormed off.

I was in shock a bit and the few people that weren't already staring at me definitely were now, but at the same time I knew she was right and I deserved everything she said to me. Though I could probably do without the scorpions. I skipped class the rest of the day; I just couldn't focus. As much as I wanted to be famous and be able to be out on stage performing, I didn't want to do it by walking all over people I considered friends. I knew I had to apologize to Ally once again even though I didn't deserve my forgiveness, she certainly deserved my apology.

After school that day I had a mission. I had more and more stares as I wandered through the mall, but I barely noticed them. I finally made it to Sonic Boom and I saw Ally at the counter through the window. Trish was there too. I took a deep breath and went in, Trish saw me right away and pounced.

"NO! Get out! Stay away from Ally haven't you done enough damage." Ally looked up surprised to see me. I looked past Trish to Ally and pulled the flowers out from behind my back.

"Ally, I'm really sorry, I don't know what I was thinking. I promise I'm gonna make this right." Ally was about to say something when Trish jumped in again.

"Ally, please tell me you aren't gonna give this jerk another chance. He just wants to use you."

I looked straight into Ally's eyes and simply asked, "Can we talk?" She nodded and motioned to the stairs. I followed her up to the practice room and I may have given Trish a look on the way up, I'm sure if you asked her she would say I did.

When we got to the practice room we were both really quiet until I offered her the flowers.

"These are for you." I paused and got ready to start again until she jumped in instead.

"Why? I thought we had a really good time the other day. Was it all just a ploy to steal my music?"

"Absolutely not. You have to believe me when I say that I thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with you too. In fact, I'm not sure I've ever had so much fun with someone."

Ally smelled her flowers and sat on the piano bench. I sat next to her.

"I don't know why I do the things I do Ally. I'm a huge jerk and I know it. There's no excuse for what I did and I want you to know that I'll make it right. I'll have Dez take the video down or I'll make sure we credit you on there or something. I honestly had no idea that it would spread like this. I didn't expect the whole school to watch it."

At that Ally perked up a bit and smiled a little, "You're kidding right, Austin? Its not just the school. Your video has almost a half a million views. You're famous Austin." I couldn't believe it, I was so focused all day on apologizing to Ally that I didn't even think about the fact that the video might have exploded far outside our school and our friends. I couldn't help but start to smile, I was actually starting to get traction with my musical career, but then I remembered that I got that traction because of a lie and my smile disappeared. I opened my mouth to speak, but Ally stopped me with a smile, " I forgive you, Austin. Sure it hurt at first, but you made my song awesome and I know you feel bad about taking it without asking. You're a good guy, even if you can be a little stupid sometime."

I smiled, "Thanks Ally, and I'll make sure we get your name on the video as the songwriter." Then I had a bright idea, "Or maybe we could do a whole new video with you and me doing a duet, that would be really awesome and you are easily as talented as me if not more so."

Ally just shook her head nervously, "No way, remember how I said I don't share my music with anyone? Well I meant that seriously. Before the other night nobody else had ever heard me sing and only my parents have ever even heard me play. I have horrible stage fright. I freak out anytime I'm in front of people."

I considered it a second and realized that the hour we spent together the other night meant as much to her as it did to me. "Well I'll have to see what I can do about that. 'Cause if I'm gonna be famous, you're gonna be famous too, even if its just as my song writer. There's no way I could do this without you."

I really meant that too. I've never been good at writing music so me and Ally are a perfect fit. She's a songwriter whose afraid to perform and I'm a performer who can't write music. I know we're a perfect match and I know were gonna do awesome things together.


	2. The Team Comes Together

There's a lot more to being famous than I ever even thought about before. Sure it was awesome to be recognized around town and the extra attention from the girls is certainly exciting, but there's a lot I've never thought about. Like how to translate a million YouTube views into anything more than a million YouTube views.

I guess to tell this story I've gotta begin with the day after Ally and I made up. The next day at school was really the first time I was able to enjoy the limelight. I was the king at school that day. I mean I've always been pretty popular, but I felt like the hero football player from all those cliched high school movies. I had swarms of people around me most of the day congratulating me and acting as if they had been my friends forever. While it was a bit flattering it also felt really weird. Sure I knew most of those people, but I'd hardly consider myself good friends with any of them.

I pretty much brushed them all off and by the time lunch came I was desperate to find Dez or Ally. I wanted some genuine friendship and I knew they would provide that for me. I was a little late to the lunch room so most of my classmates had already sat down. I couldn't help but notice that there was at least one seat open at every table. I felt like a real celebrity capable of elevating the reputation of anyone I chose. The power was a bit thrilling. After grabbing my food I looked around hoping to see one of my real friends. I saw Dez at our usual table, but he was surrounded by a bunch of the popular kids trying to use our friendship to get close to me. I was sorry Dez had to go through that, then in the corner of the lunch room at a table by themselves I saw Ally and Trish.

I pulled out my phone and sent Dez a quick text hoping he'd get it right away and move over to their table. Then I made my way over. I could tell by the look she gave me that Trish still didn't like me. She seems very protective of Ally, which I can't help but admire; she's still afraid that I'm gonna hurt Ally and use her to get to the top. She scares me a little bit, but she is Ally's best friend though, so I'm gonna have to figure out a way to live with her. I knew I'd have to do something nice to her to win her over.

I could feel the hushed silence spread as I walked by each table, I'm not sure I'll ever get used to this kind of attention. I still hope it dies down at school eventual. I get the feeling its the novelty of it all that is making this so awkward. Anyway I was just happy to finally get a chance to sit down with the only three people in the school that weren't gonna treat me any differently just because I'm famous now.

I sat down, sighed in relief, and smiled. I was about to open my mouth to say hi, but Trish didn't give me a chance. "I still think you're a jerk."

Well so much for that good feeling. At least Ally defended me and kind of scolded Trish, "TRISH!"

Dez walked up just in time to hear that and my buddy always has my back, "That's not very nice you know."

"So what, weirdo, and you guys didn't let me finish. I was gonna say, 'I still think you're a jerk, but I guess since you and ally are friends now, I guess I'll try to live with you.' But I'm not sure I wanna say that anymore."

"Thanks, Trish," I said with a smile and then I thought about it for a second, "I think." My confusion made Ally and Dez laugh and I'm pretty sure I even saw a smirk on Trish's face. I was starting to break through the ice.

As we sat there we didn't really say much. We all kind of had the same thing on our minds. Dez posted the video on his own YouTube account and had been trying to manage in influx of comments. Ally was still trying to take in the fact that her song had been heard by almost a million people. And Trish undoubtedly was trying to figure out what my scheme was in this whole thing. I on the other hand was just trying to take it all in.

The shock of the fame was starting to wear off for me and I had begun to figure out that I was way out of my depth. People knew who I was now, but how was I going to translate that into something more. I knew I had to find a way to keep the momentum going, but I had no idea how. I needed help. "So... What's next?"

"What do you mean, Austin?" Ally asked.

"He means, what is he gonna eat next, his salisbury steak or the garlic mashed potatoes, duh!" Have I mentioned how I much I love Dez.

"No, you idiot," said Trish, "He means, how does he turn this successful video into a career. He needs to figure out his next step."

"I guess I should start trying to get some gigs or something."

"Definitely!" Dez jumped in, "But you'd probably need more than one song otherwise people would get pretty bored at your shows."

This shut us all up for a bit. Dez has a way of cutting to the heart of an issue without even realizing he did it. Trish seemed to simmer a bit more at the reminder that I stole Ally's song. Ally shifted in her seat awkwardly and I tried to avoid contact with both of them. Dez was completely oblivious to the awkwardness or he just ignored it, "Ally, that first song was awesome, do you have any more?"

Trish looked like she wanted to punch him in the face or at the very least throw her mashed potatoes at him. But I couldn't help but look up to see what Ally's reaction would be. Despite our conversation the night before I still wasn't sure how enthusiastic Ally was about writing songs for me, or if she had any existing songs that would work for me. She smiled at me and then at Dez, "I have some songs, but I'm not sure if they are right for Austin, but I'd be willing to try to come up with some more. Maybe Austin and I should try to put something together."

"That would be awesome Ally, I can't wait to work with you more and I don't wanna be a one hit wonder. I know we can come up with another awesome song together."

"You're gonna need a lot more than another song to make something out of this video." Trish seemed legitimately interested at that point so I figured I'd better engage her and maybe I could get her on my side instead of at my throat.

"What do you mean? I have no idea how to do any of this."

"Well first off, you've gotta give your fans and supporters a way to contact you. You've gotta get a website."

She seemed to know exactly what I needed to do, I'm not sure why I hadn't thought of it. It seemed so obvious as soon as she said it. That was the moment when I realized how out of my depth I was on my own. I needed a team of people around me to make better and fill in the gaps I can't handle on my own. Dez is my video director and the guy who could say what no one else wanted to. Ally is my song writer and I'm thinking she'll also be the one to keep me grounded. And it seemed like Trish was gonna be a big part of my career as well.

We talked a bit more about a website and about places I might try to perform. We started to actually have a bit of fun too which is pretty cool. But then we were interrupted by the principal calling me too his office.

I won't lie I've generally been a pretty good kid, so getting called to the principal's office was yet another unknown I had to face this week. I couldn't imagine what it was about, then I remembered that I skipped my afternoon classes the day before. I hoped that wasn't the issue, but I couldn't think of another reason he'd need to see me.

However my fears were without cause, it turned out that even the principal wanted to suck up to his famous student. When I got to his office I was ushered in quickly and found someone else in there with the principal. I definitely wasn't ready for what she was about to offer. It went down like this.

"Austin, this is Patty Schlesinger, and she'd like to speak with you for a few minutes." It was weird, it was as if the principal was treating me as an equal and not a student. I didn't say a word; it seemed like I was just there to listen.

"Austin, I'm from Miami Today, the city's number one morning news show, and we'd like to have you come on the show and tell us your story. People love to see stories about local young people succeeding. Would you be interested in coming on the air?"

I was a bit shocked; I hadn't even thought about possibly getting the attention of the local media. I guess it made sense, the video had certainly gotten around the city pretty fast. I thought about it for a bit and realized that my parents would probably wanna have a say in whether I went on TV or not. "That sounds great. I'd love to be on your show, but I don't think I can say yes without talking to my parents first."

"Oh, absolutely, of course, yes, in fact, I'd like to meet with your parents later today to work out the details and we may be able to get you on the show the day after tomorrow. Your principal has given us your parents' contact information so I'll be in touch."

"Okay sounds great! I can't wait." I was out the door in a hurry excited to tell my friends what had just happened. I knew my parents wouldn't be an issue so I wasn't worried about that, but I was a little worried about how I'd handle the press I was about to get. I mean I had never been interviewed before. I didn't know what they were gonna ask or how I should respond. This was my first chance to reveal a little about myself and I wasn't if who I am was good enough. I know I've said it before but there is a whole lot more to being famous then you ever really think about.

We spent the next day and a half working on trying to get a website up for fans and potential venues and promoters to use to contact me. It wasn't much, just a bio, a link to the video and a couple of email addresses, one for potential gigs and one for the fans. We got it up and running the night before I went on the show, Trish insisted on that, then I could plug the website on the show and hopefully build my fan base. Ally and I got to spend a little time brainstorming new songs but with school, the website, and trying to prepare myself for the interview we didn't make much progress.

The morning of the interview came and man was I nervous. I convinced the principal to get Ally, Dez, and Trish out of morning classes so that they could come with me. That helped the nerves a bit to have my team behind me. We were all waiting in the green room (not actually green by the way, totally misleading) and I'm sure they could all tell I was nervous. Dez was trying to make me laugh and Trish had brought a laptop and was looking at the traffic the website had gotten over night. I think she was beginning to like the whole PR thing.

Ally came over and sat next to me after Dez went to raid the snack table. "How are you feeling?"

"Nervous, I'm not sure what people are gonna think of me."

"They love you, why else would 990,000 thousand of them check out your video. You are an awesome performer and I know you'll do great out there." I smiled; Ally was great at giving pep talks, and I knew she meant every word she said.

"Its not the performance I'm worried about, its the interview. Its the first time I'm gonna go out in front of an audience and be myself. I've always hidden behind a song or a dance in the past. This time its just gonna be me. It's a little nerve-racking."

Ally responded with an exasperated laugh, "Austin, if there's one thing you'll never have to worry about in your career, its whether or not you'll be charming enough. You're one of the nicest, friendliest guys out there and I just no everyone is gonna love you because of it."

"Thanks, Ally" I was then called to head out onto the stage and get ready. I was gonna perform my song "Double Take" and then they went to commercial break before I spoke with the morning show's cast. The performance went great, it was a little weird to not have much of an audience, but I'm in my element whenever I perform and it made me feel better about the interview too. After the commercial break they started asking me questions.

"We're here with local teen and internet sensation Austin Moon. Did you ever think this video would get this kind of response?" The guy with the really bad toupee (I seriously don't remember any of their names) kicked the interview off.

"No way, me and my friend Dez, he's the one who actually put the video together, just wanted to make an awesome music video together, we thought it would be fun and it was. I figured we might get a couple hundred views, maybe a couple thousand if we were lucky."

"How have your friends at school responded to your sudden fame? I'm not even sure I know which one of them asked this question.

"Its been a little wild, I've always gotten along with everyone, but its a little overwhelming to have everyone jockeying to be my best friend."

"Well it sounds like your handling it well, I do have to ask though, have you had any better luck with the girls at your school since the video blew up. You are a very cute young man and I'm sure you have your admirers." The blond lady asked me this one.

"To be perfectly honest I haven't had much time to think about girls in the past of of days. We've been brain storming song ideas, getting ready for today, and getting my website up and running. Fame sure is a lot more exhausting than they let you believe." I smiled at the blond lady and I could tell that she was a little shaken by it. I think she was digging me.

"So you are working on new songs? Not planning on being just a one hit wonder huh? Could you give us any kind of preview into what types of songs you might play in the future?" Back to the toupee again.

"Not really, we're still in the early stages, but I have absolute faith in my partner and songwriter, Ally Dawson. She wrote "Double Take" and I'm sure she'll help me come up with something else, just as awesome. She is incredibly talented."

"Sounds like you two, really work well together, is there anything romantic going on?" The blonde, whose name is Connie (I just remembered) really wouldn't give up on the whole dating thing. There's no way she wasn't into me.

"No, we're just friends," I smirked, "So I'm still available if you're interested, Connie." I finished it off with a wink and they all cracked up laughing, I knew I had nailed the interview at that point. There were a couple more questions, but I was in cruise control and breezed through them. I could certainly get used to this kind of attention it was fun.

I went back to the green room to meet up with the gang and they were stoked about the interview. Dez said the video had already jumped another 30,000 views since the interview started. Trish said I had been receiving fan mail fairly consistently since I plugged the website. Ally was just happy she heard her name at all. Trish then approached me about something else.

"Austin, there's an email in here from the manager of the mall that Sonic Boom is in and he's asking you to sing at a promotional event he's hosting tomorrow. You're in if you want it, what do you think?"

"Trish that's awesome I'm definitely in! When is it?"

"The day after tomorrow and I'm glad you're in; I already told him you were coming. Oh and he would like you to sing "Double Take" and 1 more song that no one has ever heard before."

"Thanks a lot Trish, I can't believe this is happening so fast. You've been a big help. How'd you like to be my manager?"

"Thanks for asking, Austin, but I took that job the moment I realized you could sing."


	3. Break Down the Walls

So after my morning show appearance, we had to get to school to finish up the day. So Ally and I didn't really get a chance to think about what performing a brand new song the following day was gonna mean for our songwriting. Instead we went to school on a high, I was really starting to get into the whole schmoozing of my public thing. Girls were still fawning over me, jocks were treating me like one of them, and the teachers even seemed to give me a bit more respect. I decided after my successful interview that I wasn't gonna hide from the attention anymore.

I feel like embracing it is a much better option. So that day I started flirting back with all the girls. A simple smile seemed to make their day and I really enjoyed that. And the jocks were easy, a few jokes and a crack about the latest hot celebrity and they were pleased. As far as the teachers were concerned a polite smile is all it would take to put me on their good side. I've always been pretty friendly and I enjoy being friendly and civil to everyone, so I guess I was built for this kind of thing.

Anyway school went pretty quick and the gang and I headed straight to Sonic Boom to figure out the next step. That's where Trish dropped the bombshell on Ally and I had totally missed that morning when Trish told us about my gig.

"So, Ally, have you made any progress on a new song yet?"

"Not yet, Trish, but its not like I have to have a whole new song finished by tomorrow or anything."

"Yeah that would be hilarious if you and I had to spend all not working on a brand new song for me to perform tomorrow night at the show." Ally and I were laughing at that very idea, until we realized that neither Dez nor Trish were laughing.

"That's hilarious, even more so when you realize its true," this was Dez being Dez and somehow finding the worst way possible to break the news to us.

"WHAT!" Both Ally and I screamed together. As the only two musicians from our group we couldn't even imagine writing a whole song in just a day.

"I told you this morning that the mall manager wanted you to perform a whole new song at the show tonight." Ally and I were still speechless, we were apparently so excited about the success of the interview and getting a gig that we completely missed the part about us writing a song in 24 hours. Ally was about to lose it.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? I can't write a song in a day, it usually takes me weeks to get a song just right. There's no way I can get this done."

"Well you're gonna have to, if Austin shows up without a new song, the mall manager's gonna be upset and it will be harder to book Austin gigs in the future. We can't back out on what we already agreed to, we're gonna need a new song by tomorrow at 5pm."

Ally was about to explode again so I figured I better step in and try to calm the storm. "Ally calm down, we'll make it work. Trish never make promises like this without talking to us first. I know it seems like the end of the world, but we'll figure it out and if we don't I'm sure we can recover from whatever fallout happens."

Ally took a deep breath and looked directly at me before quietly responding, "Austin, I'm not sure I can do this; I don't know if I can handle this kind of pressure. I hate putting myself out there like this."

I stepped a little closer and put my hand on her shoulder, "Ally, you are awesome and incredibly talented. I know you can do this. And don't think I'm gonna make you do it alone, I'll be right here beside you the whole time and we're gonna make this happen."

"Thanks, Austin, I'll give it a try as long as you stick around," she steps forward into a hug.

"Always." I broke the hug and grinned as I looked at Dez, "Hey Dez, wanna hit the beach?" At that I turned to leave with Dez.

Ally's smile vanished and her face turned a scary shade of red, "WHAT!?"

I turned back around with a smile on my face, "Gotcha, let's get to work."

Ally laugh a bit and smiled, I think I made here believe that I was really gonna stick by her. I'm not sure she had ever felt that way about anyone before.

"You mean we're not going to the beach?" asked Dez with fake frown on his face. Ally and I ignored him and made our way up to the practice room.

We sat down at the piano and just sat there, I think at that point neither of us really knew how this partnership was going to work. I mean, I didn't really know Ally's writing process and Ally didn't really know me well enough to know how to write a song for me. We sat in silence for a few minutes before I finally decided to say something. "So you said you had some other songs, could I hear some of them? Then maybe we can figure out where to start."

"I don't know, Austin, my songs are all very personal, I'm not really sure I'm ready to share them with anyone yet." It seemed like there was no way she was open up to me and it was gonna be a long night if I couldn't get her to open up.

"Ally, its just me, I'm not gonna judge you or make fun of you. If you can't trust your closest friends with your music then who can you trust. You have to know I won't intentionally say anything to hurt or embarrass you in anyway."

"I don't know Austin all my songs are kind of slow and contemplative, they aren't exactly your style anyway. I really don't know if I'm the right person to be writing your songs, you should find someone with more experience."

"Never. We just gotta figure out a way to inspire you to try something different with your music. I have an idea. What's something you've always wanted to do, but always felt like something was keeping you from doing it?"

"Well I've always wanted to fix up the practice room a little bit."

That's when I knew I had my work cut out for me, "No, Ally, I meant something fun that you've always wanted to try. There has to be something."

"Well, I've always wanted to learn to dance, but I know I'd just embarrass myself if I tried."

"Dancing! That's my specialty. Give me some time to put something together. Why don't you work a bit on some music, something upbeat and fun. Then I'll come get you and we'll work on the lyrics later." At that I was out the door before she could object. I had to put something together that could help her break down those walls keeping her from showing the world who she really was. I needed to plan a dance party.

An hour or so later, I went back up to the practice room to get Ally. I was ready to show her that world was a lot more fun if she opened herself up to new experiences.

"There you are Austin, I've been trying to come up with something, but I've been stuck, I really could use some help."

"Don't worry Ally, I'll help you out, but first we need to have a little fun." I grabbed her hand and pulled her down to the main part of the store. Dez hit the music and the lights and Sonic Boom became our very own dance party. Dez and Trish started dancing, showing off some crazy moves and making big fools of themselves, but they didn't care. Ally started smiling and laughing at them. It looked like she was starting to loosen up a bit. So I told Dez to cut the music.

"Alright Ally its your turn. Are you ready for your first dance lesson?" Her smile disappeared in a hurry, but I didn't let her back out. I showed her some basic moves until it seemed like she got the hand of it and I told Dez to hit the music again. We all danced around like crazy. Ally stuck to the moves I had shown her, and she was doing okay. It looked like she was having a lot of fun so I thought I'd try to get her to improvise a little. She bought into the idea and left the normal person dance moves behind and started this odd flailing dance thing that was really funny to watch, but it was great to see her break loose like that.

She kept at it until she lost her balance and started to fall, I grabbed her and the music stopped. We were all laughing and smiling. "See, Ally, look at how much fun you can have when you stop letting stupid things get in the way of doing what you really wanna do."

"Yeah that was awesome, and I think I'm a pretty good dancer after all." Dez, Trish, and I all paused before cracking up laughing. "What? Was I really that bad or something?"

"Well, you're not great..." I started before Dez decided to jump in.

"Not great? Ally, you looked like a monkey having a seizure out there."

I just glared at Dez and Trish who I could tell was about to heap on another insulting joke. "As I was saying, Ally, you aren't great, but who really cares, you had fun right?" She nodded, "Then dance away, no one cares how good you are just have fun with it."

"You're right Austin, and I think I have an idea for that new song, and I know you're gonna love it." Ally and I stayed up all night working on the song. Once we got the theme the rest of lyrics just rolled out of us and the melody came together very nicely. When the sun rose on the Saturday of the big event we had the whole thing finished and I was really proud of it, but something was bugging me.

"Ally, I'm not sure I can perform this song."

"WHAT!? You can't be serious of course you can I wrote it with you in mind. This song is perfect for you."

"I know, but now that I know what it really takes to write a song I feel so guilty performing it, since you're the one who did all the hard work."

"Don't be, Austin, I wanted to write it for you, I want you to be successful."

I looked down at the floor and prepared myself for what I was gonna say next because I knew she was gonna flatly reject my proposition. "Ally, I know you are afraid to go up on stage and perform in front of people, so I won't ask you to do that with me today, but I want you to know that I don't want you as a silent partner for much longer. I want you on stage right next to me singing with me. This is a partnership and I want you involved in every aspect of it." She want to interrupt to say it wasn't gonna happen but I didn't let her. "I know you aren't thrilled with the idea right now, but I want you to get yourself prepared for the day when I ask you to join me on stage."

Ally was speechless, I could tell she was nervous, but I also think she appreciated the sentiment. I think she trusted me to know when she was ready. After that I headed home to try to get ready for the show that night. It went great, the new song was a hit and I hoped the message of breaking down the walls would keep ringing true for Ally. I couldn't wait for the day when she would get up on stage and sing with me.


	4. The Opening Act

Its now been a month since my first video went viral. After that first week of madness things cooled down a bit, the number of views my videos have been getting have stalled out a little bit. The press of the initial overnight sensation tag I earned seems to have fallen away. My career now seems to rest on the ability of my manager, Trish, to get me gigs and keep me in the news somehow.

And in the past month she's done okay I've had small gigs around Miami and she managed to get me interviews with a number of pop culture blogs. So it hasn't been all bad, but the meteoric rise I was hoping for, doesn't seem to be in the cards anymore. Or at least that's what we thought until this morning.

Trish called a special meeting of Team Austin (It was Dez's idea, I hate that name, this isn't just about me its about all of us). She told us she had a big announcement and that we'd all better be ready for a busy day. I figured it was probably just another gig at a local venue or something like that. Trish tended to get worked up whenever ever she got me a gig or an interview or something. I certainly wasn't prepared for the announcement she was about to make.

"Okay so today is a big day, and I've got a strategy to capitalize on it. Dez is the new music video for "A Billion Hits" ready to go?" Trish all of a sudden sounded like a drill sergeant or more accurately like a real manager.

"Well its not quite done, I've got a little more editing to..."

"Get it done, I want a final cut on it by tonight; we'll post it first thing tomorrow morning. Ally, Austin are you guys ready with that new song?"

I let Ally handle this one, songwriting is her department, "I think so, I think Austin might need a little more time before he's ready to perform it, but..."

"Well he needs to be ready, he's performing it tonight. You got that Austin, we need this song to be a big hit."

"Definitely, but what's this all about Trish we don't even know what we're doing tonight?" I was completely confused, this was clearly something more important than just another gig.

"Its probably better if I show you," she turned the tv in the practice room to Miami Today where one of those nameless talking heads that interviewed me was covering some story. I couldn't figure out what she wanted us to see until they shifted to a new story which seemed to be about the Justin Bieber concert that was going on at the American Airlines Arena. That's when my interest was peaked. What did Trish want us to see that involved the Justin Bieber concert? My mind was racing and I wasn't letting myself believe the thoughts that were coming into my head. I totally lost track of what the talking head was saying until my picture showed up on the screen and that's when I started paying attention again. The story was that the opening act for Bieber's current tour had come down with the flu and wasn't going to be able to make the show. And instead of flying somebody else down to Miami on short notice they decided to seek out a talented local artist to come on and perform. They chose me.

Trish couldn't contain her excitement anymore she busted out with the story, "Bieber's people called me first thing this morning and asked if Austin wanted to perform at the show tonight. They've offered you two songs and a chance to join Justin in the post show meet and greet. I'm thinking we go with "A Billion Hits" and "Better Together." The first gives a huge boost to the new video when we get it posted, which I'm now thinking should happen the second Austin leaves the stage. And the second is our brand new song and the best chance we've had at a big hit since "Double Take." Are you guys ready?"

I made an effort to seem as enthusiastic as the rest of the team, but I was incredibly nervous. I'm not sure they fully grasped the stakes of tonight's performance. If I nailed I could be vaulted into another dimension of fame, which is all they were thinking about. I on the other hand couldn't help but think about the possibility of me totally blowing my performance or worse yet, doing a great job but still not winning over the audience. My career could be over before it starts. If I blow it on one of the biggest stages in the world, I may never recover.

It didn't matter then how I felt, I knew I couldn't pass up the opportunity to perform at the biggest venue in Miami. This could be my big break and I needed to try even if my nerves were creeping up on me. I sucked it up and decided it was time to buckle down and get ready for the show.

"So what's my schedule look like for today then, Trish? What time do they need me there and is there anything else I need to know about what's gonna happen once I'm there?"

"The show starts at seven, they want you there at two to go over your schedule and plan out your performance with their band and dancers if you want to use them. Then by five they hope to have you meet with their wardrobe people to get fitted into whatever clothes you agree with them on. Then at six they want you to meet Justin and take some pictures with him for the press. They seem to love this story of the local kid getting his big chance to be a star. Then you hit the stage a little after seven for your two songs, after that we all get to hang out backstage until ten when they want you at the meet and greet for an hour."

"Well that sounds exhausting, I hope I have the energy to actually perform after all that. This being famous thing might be a lot tougher than I ever thought before."

"You'll do fine, Austin, we'll be right there with you keeping you going." Ally is always first to encourage me and it always seems to work. My mind settled a bit knowing they'd all be there with me, but I'm feeling overwhelmed again just like I did that first day when my video blew up. I love being able to perform in front of people on a regular basis, but all this baggage that comes along with that is terrifying me. I'm just not sure I'm gonna be able to handle it all.

Trish jumped back in for the assignments for the morning. "Ally, you and Austin spend the next couple of hours rehearsing both songs, I want him to be able to sing them both backwards before we leave at one. Dez you need to get that video in the can before we leave and set it up to go online at 7pm. I've got to keep in touch with the Bieber people to make sure our passes are in order and the schedule is set in stone." We all paused a bit in shock at what we were about to do before Trish started barking orders again, "Move people, move; we haven't got all day here."

Most of the day was a bit of a blur, Ally and I practiced those songs to death and then Trish rushed us out the door and too the arena. I worked with their choreographer and some of their extra back up dancers to plan out a quick routine while Ally worked with the band to help them learn my songs and Dez found himself with the lighting and sound crews in awe of all that nerdy equipment. Trish was still dealing with Bieber's press people talking about the photo op and the meet and greet after the show.

After barely getting time to practice our routine for the show I got ushered back to wardrobe to pick out my clothes and the wardrobe for my dancers, Ally was brought back to help me pick them out, but as soon as I did I was shown to the dressing room i was gonna be using for the night and told my call times and cues. Then it came to the moment when I was gonna get a chance to meet the superstar himself, Justin Bieber. I was shown to the part of the Arena where the photo op would take place. They told me the press might have a few questions, and that I was not to upstage Justin. I'm not sure what they meant by that but I figured since he was a superstar he could probably handle himself okay with the press. Anyway just a couple minutes before six Justin showed up and I got my first opportunity to say hi.

"Hey Justin, its an honor to meet you, I'm Austin Moon."

He looked at me, smiled, shook my hand, and pulled me into a hug, "Good to meet you, man, my manager showed me your video, it was pretty cool. You've got some real talent."

"Thanks, that means a lot, I really appreciate the opportunity to open for you. It'll make or break my career."

I'm pretty sure he could sense the apprehension in my voice because he became a bit more serious and motioned for me to take a seat. "All of this can be a bit overwhelming, I know but you eventually get used to it."

"I can't imagine ever getting used to this."

"I know how you feel, but you definitely will. You nervous about tonight?" I just gave him a look and I know he read it right. "Sorry, stupid question; let me ask you something, Austin. How much do you like performing?"

I relaxed a little bit, just thinking about the high I get from performing was making me feel a whole lot less nervous. "I love performing; I feel like I could jump off the stage and fly away every time I'm up there. Its a pretty incredible experience, but I doubt I have to explain that to you."

"Nope." He grinned and as the press was beginning to filter into the room he leaned over and whispered something into my ear, "If you enjoy yourself, nothing else matters."

The photo op was a synch, Justin and I threw our arms across each other's shoulders and pretended we were old friends. The press ate it up and there questions were super easy, mostly about how it must feel to be suddenly thrust upon such a big stage. I think I have a knack for this press thing; Justin seemed impressed with how well I handled it. It didn't matter much though because that 7pm hour kept inching closer and I was told I needed to go get ready for my set.

When I made it back to my dressing room the whole gang was there waiting for me and I know they wanted to hear something about meeting Justin, but I just wasn't in the mood. I needed to relax.

"So... what was he like?" asked Trish.

"He's a pretty cool guy, I guess." My answer pretty much shut them up; they knew I wasn't in the mood. It was 6:35 and I had to be backstage by 6:50 so I headed to the changing room to get ready. Ally stood on the other side of the door, and I'm sure she was trying to think of something to say to help me relax. As I pulled on my wardrobe for the night I thought about what Justin said to me. He told me to just enjoy it. It might be the best advice I could have gotten, but for some reason I was having a hard time accepting it.

At this point in Justin's career he just had himself to worry about. But I've got my friends working hard right beside me, my success means their success, my failure means their failure. Sure just going out and enjoying my performance is great for me, but it means nothing to the people counting on me to do well. I can't perform just for myself, there's too much on the line for the people I care about, they've worked too hard for me to mess it up. I've got to make it happen.

I finished getting dressed and opened the door. The whole gang was waiting to ambush me. They knew I was really nervous, but I didn't think they knew why. "Its the biggest crowd you've ever performed for, I know you love it." That was Dez's way of telling me he knew I wasn't nervous about the crowd. It made me think he guessed the reason for my current mood.

"Buck up you're about to become a superstar, and if you blow it I'm pretty sure I can talk Justin into hiring me as his new manager." Trish went from hating my guts to going all out to make me a success in just a few weeks. I'm pretty sure she'd face an angry pack of wolves just to get me a gig.

Then Ally came up to me and simply smiled as she hugged me. Her hug is what did it. It made me realize that my friends were gonna stand me no matter what happened tonight. That they were fully with me whether I made it big or struggled through obscurity. They had my back no matter what happened tonight and at that I was ready.

The performance went great, I started out strong and I really felt the energy of the crowd and I'm pretty sure it was the best performance I've ever given. They loved the songs too. As I walked off stage I realized that I might just get a chance to do this kind of thing for the rest of my life. I couldn't help but smile as I was congratulated by the stagehands.

I ran into Justin while he was getting ready for his first set. He smiled at me, "Don't get too cocky, this is still my show."

"We'll see what the fans have to say after you finish." He just laughed as his dancers ran by us to hit the stage. He followed shortly after. I stayed to watch the first couple songs, but I've never been a big fan of his. Instead I came back to the dressing room to write down my thoughts about the whole night. I can't help but wonder how many similar days I might have in the future.


	5. The Next Level

Right before Justin's encore the rest of the gang invaded my dressing room to congratulate me. I knew I had nailed it, but it was nice to hear what it looked like from another perspective.

"Oh my God! Austin, you were awesome, I feel like I need your autograph right now!" Dez then proceeded to stuff a pen and paper in my face as if to insist. I love him but its a little weird that by best friend wants my autograph.

"Seriously, Austin, you were great, it was incredible to see you out there performing our songs. You and the spotlight were meant to be together."

"Thanks, Ally." I looked over to Trish, "Trish, you rock for putting this together for me, I can't believe I just performed for fifteen thousand people."

"Pfft, fifteen thousand is nothing, with this team right here, we'll make your wildest dreams come true." Trish has a way of saying things sarcastically and that wasn't how she said this. I got the impression she was convinced I could do whatever I want.

"You know, Austin, I'm not sure you ever told me what your wildest dream is. What is your craziest career goal?"

I considered Ally's question briefly but before I could respond Dez jumped in and answered instead, "Austin has always wanted to play in Times Square on New Year's Eve. He thinks if you can play there it means you've officially made it."

Ally and Trish both looked over at me silently asking me if that was true. I just shrugged and nodded and based on the thunderous applause coming from the stadium we guessed that Justin had just finished up his encore. "I guess I should figure out where they want me for the meet and greet." I yawned and then continued, "Although at this point I kinda just wanna go to bed, I hope I don't have any more days like today."

"Oh, Austin," Dez said in a really sad voice before perking up to say, "Don't be silly you'll have tons of other days like today, this is your life now." We all chuckled a bit at that but I think we all realized he was probably right. I was definitely gonna have to get used to long exhausting days like day. They were certainly gonna happen more often. Soon enough Justin's main PR lady burst into the room and rushed me to the meet and greet.

The room was pretty big with a section in the back cordoned off for any press that wanted to take pictures and a long velvet rope type line snaking through the room. I figured that must be for the lucky fans that got a pass to the meet and greet. The lady showed me to my seat, it looked like i was gonna be the first person they'd get a chance to meet. Justin wasn't in there yet, but he had to change after his performance.

"So you're new to this so let me tell you what's gonna happen. About 150 excited fans are gonna come through this line to meet Justin. Our goal is to get these girls through the line as quickly as possible. We'd like to have each girl from one end of the table to the other in 30 seconds or less. Just remember they aren't here to see you so keep your conversations very short so we can get them through the line in a timely manner. The press will be in the back so smile for the cameras, its the reason you're here."

And at that she was out the back door, not once pausing for me to ask a question or anything. She made me all nervous and all I was doing was saying hi to a few Justin Bieber fans, how hard could that be. A few minutes later Justin and his bodyguards came in. Justin dropped in the seat next to mine and his bodyguards stood at either side of the table.

"Sup man, you look tired." Justin was so casual about all of this, its so weird that this is a normal thing for him.

"I am tired its been a long day."

"Well just sit back and enjoy this next bit, its a bunch of hardcore fans still on an adrenaline high from the concert. Its a pretty exhilarating experience, I'm sure it will wake you up a bit." I forced a smile and nodded knowing most of these girls would probably just ignore me while they waited to see Justin. I didn't imagine it would be that exciting for me. "This easy for you, no one expects anything from you yet, just be yourself and try to make a good impression on the fans."

That was great advice and it worked great, sure most of the fans were there to see Justin, but I had some girls ask for autographs and plenty of them told me that they were my biggest fans. I had a lot of fun, Justin has some very cool fans and I enjoyed interacting with them. I have come to understand that these kinds of meet and greets aren't all that common in the music industry. I also learned that Justin demands that they have one at every concert because he loves his fans and wants to interact with them. I decided then and there that's the kind of celebrity I wanna be.

After the last fan left Justin motioned for me to follow him backstage. We went into his dressing room and he told me to take a seat. "Alright, Austin, you are very good. Are you sure you're ready for what's about to happen?"

"I'm know I'm not ready since I don't even know what you're talking about." I was pretty confused.

"I mean that after tonight you're career is gonna blow up. Right now thousands of Beliebers are headed home ready to go online and tell all the other Beliebers out there how awesome my concert was. And with that performance you gave tonight, I know most of them will be mentioning you as well. If you thought your video was a hit before imagine what will happen when my fans start spreading it around. You're about to be hit with a tidal wave of press requests and I just wanted to make sure you knew what was coming your way."

I was silent after that; he had to be right who knew his fans better than Justin Bieber, my name was gonna be everywhere in the next couple of days and I was gonna have to try and figure out how to handle the madness. It was a weird feeling, I started to second guess everything we had already done for my career. Was I ready for the pressure? Was Ally? Could Trish handle the demands of being a full time manager? I love team Austin and I wouldn't leave those guys for anything, but could we really handle all of this on our own?

That's what I was thinking about as I headed back to my dressing room. It gave me a head ache and I just wanted to forget about it for the night and head home. However when I hit the dressing room it was a buzz with activity. Dez was glued to his computer screen, Trish was in manager mode on the phone in the corner and Ally was running around cleaning things with a smile plastered to her face. I guessed right away what was going on and I really didn't want to deal with it. I just walked in and crashed on the couch in the corner face down.

Ally finally saw me and rushed over, "Austin you'll never guess what's happening right..."

"The website and videos are blowing up, Trish has been getting call after call about me coming on radio and tv shows, and you for some weird reason clean when you're excited."

Ally just gave me a weird look and sat down on the chair next to me, "Yeah, that's exactly what's happening, why aren't you more excited? This has to be the coolest thing that's happened yet."

"I'm just tired, I wanna go home and get some sleep." At that Ally jumped into action she got Trish off the phone, Dez off his computer, and everything packed up and ready to go within ten minutes. It was impressive. The whole ride home I kept thinking about what Justin said and worried about whether any of us was ready to handle the pressure of superstardom.

When I got home I dragged myself upstairs and crashed on the bed fully clothed and I was out almost immediately. It was one of the best night's sleep I'd had in a long time, and I woke up feeling a whole lot better about everything that happened the night before. I went downstairs to grab some cereal and watch some tv. The local news was on and they had a story about the concert the night before. The report was less about the Justin Bieber concert and more about my performance as his opening act. One of the newsmen started reading portions of a bunch of reviews of the concert, pretty much any that talked about me.

I couldn't believe the kind of praise I got, most of the reviews used phrases like "The next big thing" or "A superstar in the making." I was through the roof excited I mean I know I had an awesome performance but it was so cool to here music professionals rave about it too. I felt like I had already made it big. After I finished eating I checked my phone, knowing full well it would be another busy day for Team Austin.

My phone had 4 missed calls and about 30 text messages waiting. They were all from Trish, instead of wasting time reading them all I figured I'd just call her back.

"Hey Trish, what's the emergency?" I paused as she ran through a whole bunch of details in very little time. "Trish, I can't understand you, calm down, why don't we just meet at Sonic Boom to talk about whatever it is you need to talk about." She spoke quickly again and I only caught a piece of it, "What do you mean, 'You're almost to my house'?" And at that the doorbell rang so I decided to hang up.

Trish started in the second I answered the door, "So you already know that I've been getting calls from tv and radio shows left and right since last night. Well for the most part I just took down some info and told them we'd get back with them, but then I got one call that I knew I had to say yes to and you'll never guess what show it was."

She had me excited now, "What show, what show!"

"The Jennifer Hartley show!"

"Oh my God, I can't believe it the Jennifer Hartley show, that's awesome!" That's when I realized something, "What's the Jennifer Hartley show?"

"You've got to be kidding me Austin, you are such a boy, she's only one of the hottest daytime talk show hosts out there. A lot of people say she could be the next Oprah. She has a huge, loyal following who pretty much do everything she tells them to, this could be huge for your career."

"Wow, that's awesome Trish when am I doing the show?"

"I don't know yet, the rep told me that they wanted to video chat with you about the details a little later. This could be even bigger than the Bieber concert cause this is a national audience."

So that was the morning on that day, Trish eventually got word that they were hoping to video chat with me around 3:30 and told us to get ready. Dez and Ally were equally excited about the show (apparently Dez is a huge fan) and wanted to be there when the call came in.

I was camped out in the practice room at Sonic Boom waiting for the call to come in. The others had gone downstairs to hang out and look after the store, when the computer started ringing. I called down for the rest of the guys to get back up to the practice room and then hit answer.

"Hi there, Austin, I'm Jennifer Hartley, but you probably already know that, anyway, I'm excited to have you on the show with us and I just wanted a to tell you that face to face."

I was about to respond when the thundering herd reached the top of the stairs only to trip over each other as they entered the room. They all kind of fell down behind me one by one as they entered the room. So awkwardly, I responded, "Hi Ms. Hartley, I'm Austin Moon."

"So Austin, who are the lemmings on the floor behind you?"

"Oh that's just my team, they wanted to be here when the call came in and they kind of ran over each other."

"Your team I thought you were a solo act?"

"Oh I am, but my best friend Dez is the one who directs all my videos and he's the one that posted the first video that made me famous."

Dez poked his head up over the desk and waved with a stupid grin on his face, "Hi Jennifer, I'm a huge fan."

She waved back awkwardly (Dez tends to do that to girls) and I continued, "And Trish, who your rep spoke with earlier, is my manager and she's the one that booked us on your show." Trish got up and waved politely, Jennifer did the same. "And last but certainly not least, is Ally, my songwriter and partner."

Ally was in the background trying to fix her hair completely unaware that she was on camera until she turned towards it and smiled. Jennifer jumped back in, "Wow, looks like you've got yourself quite the crew. No one told me your friends were so involved in your career that's awesome. I was hoping to get you out here this coming Friday, what song do you think you'll be performing?"

I had no idea what song to sing and was just sitting their stupidly until Ally jumped in, "He'll be debuting a brand new song on your show Ms. Hartley."

"Oh! Very exciting! I can't wait." She seemed to be winding down the conversation until she stopped suddenly. "Oh wait, I just had an idea, why not have all four of you take part in the interview portion. I just love that a group of good friends are making this journey together."

I immediately thought of Ally and her stage fright and started to say something, "Ms. Hartley..."

Then Trish jumped in, "We'd love to be on the show with Austin. We are a team after all, Team Austin."

"That's great I can't wait til you get here. Oh and Austin, please just call me Jenn." And at that she had hung up. It was an interesting conversation. None of us had expected to speak with Jenn herself and we certainly didn't expect her to invite the whole team to be on the show.

I couldn't believe Trish said yes to that either, she knows better than any of us about Ally's stage fright. I just hope that we can get Ally ready to go on tv for a national audience in just five days.


	6. Taking one for the Team

Once again Team Austin was in for a crazy week. After the skype session with Jenn, Ally was freaking out, Trish booked us a ton of meetings, and we had a song to write before flying out to Chicago for the show on Friday.

It was Monday morning and we only had five days to get a song ready and to get Ally ready to get up on stage with us for the show. Trish got a phone call immediately after we got off the phone with Jenn and rushed out of the room. Dez muttered something about a chili cook off and rushed off to go work on it. That left Ally and I alone in the practice room. She thought that gave us a great opportunity to work on the new song, but I had other ideas. "So Ally, what's the deal with your stage fright?"

"Austin, I don't really wanna talk about it, let's just work on the song."

"Come on Ally, how can I help you overcome your greatest fear if I don't know what caused it?"

She looked a little upset after I said that, "Who said I wanted you to help me overcome my stage fright?"

"Nobody, but your dream is to be able to go out and perform your own music, and you can't do that if you're afraid to be on stage. So whether you want my help or not I'm gonna help you live your dream, because without you I wouldn't be living mine."

She softened when she realized how sincere I was being and how silly she was acting. "I guess I'm just afraid to get up on stage and not be good enough. I know its silly but I'd rather hold onto my dream at a distance than risk losing it altogether."

"You're crazy if you think you aren't good enough, but I guess I can understand the sentiment." I dropped it for a little bit, I had to think of some way to try and get her confidence up. We worked on our song a bit more, it was a fun one this time, but I couldn't get Ally's stage fright off my mind. I ended up interrupting her when she was trying out a chorus, "That explains why you don't perform; why did you look so nervous about Jenn's show? You just have to sit there and answer questions."

She stopped playing the piano and rolled her eyes at me, "Austin, this isn't the time, lets try to finish getting this chorus worked out."

"I think it is the time, we just committed you to an interview on live TV in five days. Are you telling me that doesn't scare you?" Her look was enough to answer my question, "So what time are we gonna find this week to talk about it if not now?"

"I don't know, its just really uncomfortable for me to talk..."

"Austin! You'll never guess who just called me!" Trish had just barged into the room and just as I was about to say something she jumped back in, "Jimmy Star, from Star Records! And he wants to meet with you as soon as possible about maybe signing a deal with his label!"

"That's amazing Trish! I can't believe it! You must be like the best manager ever!" I jumped up and hugged her. I had so much on my mind, I had no idea how to handle signing a record deal, I just hoped Trish knew enough to get me a good deal.

"That's amazing, Austin, Star Records is a great company," Ally was all to eager to change the subject.

"He was hoping you could be down there within the hour to meet with him and try to work something out." Trish was still really excited.

"Within the hour that's crazy quick, I wonder why he's in such a hurry?" I wondered.

"I don't know but you and I need to get down there ASAP. Ally why don't you just stay here and keep working on the song, we'll let you know what happens as soon as we get out of the meeting."

Ally nodded and I looked back at her, "Okay we'll see you in a little bit," I paused, "and don't think I'm gonna drop this, we'll finish our conversation later."

Trish and I rushed to Star Records downtown and were brought to Jimmy Star's outer office immediately. Within five minutes we were in front of his desk waiting for him to come in. He showed up a few minutes later and bombarded us with his goals and ideas for my career and the kind of superstar he thought I could be. It all sounded great at first, until I realized he hadn't once mentioned Trish or Dez in relation to my career and he seemed to think of Ally as an afterthought. I didn't like the sound of that. I didn't want to be famous if it meant pushing my friends aside.

Trish was incredibly into his pitch and I was fairly certain she was on the verge of saying yes to his deal immediately. So I decided to ask her to step out for a few minutes. "Jimmy, I appreciate your pitch and I'm excited to hear that you think I can do that well, but I was wondering where you saw my friends fitting into this whole deal."

"Well obviously your friends would be more than welcome to join you for tours and stuff."

He just wasn't getting it, it was like he didn't think they played any roll in my rise to fame. I didn't want to work with a label that was gonna make me forget my friends no matter how much money he said he would make me. I told Jimmy I wanted to think about his offer some more and thanked him for the time he spent with me.

It was a weird feeling knowing I had just turned my nose up at a deal that would have made my dreams come true, but I knew I didn't wanna take this ride without my friends being a part of it.

It turned out to be a great thing that I didn't accept Jimmy's offer. We discovered after the fact that he wanted us in his office as soon as possible so that he could offer me a deal before any other record companies had a chance to steal me away. Over the next couple of days we had meetings with 10 other record labels. A bunch of them were local, but at least a few were major labels that wanted to video chat with me. Unfortunately they all seemed to have the same basic idea, and that was to ignore what I'd already done and essentially freeze out the team I already had in place. It was really discouraging, but some things made me wonder if that might not be for the best. At one point trish overbooked my meetings and one label said they wanted nothing to do with me after I missed the meeting.

It once again made me question if Trish was capable of doing this thing on her own. She was my friend and all, but I was worried being a professional manager would be too much for her. Regardless of whether she could handle everything on her own or not I still wanted her to be part of my career whether it was as my manager or as another member of my team and none of these labels seemed all that interested in having anything to do with her or Dez or even Ally really and that just wasn't okay with. I was kind of hoping that our appearance on Jenn's show would show all the labels that this a team effort.

Because of all these meetings Ally had managed to avoid our conversation for most of the week. She kept herself busy working on the song and it was a good one, we got it pretty much finalized just in time to get packed up and on a plane to head out for the show. We had an early afternoon flight on Thursday so we could make it into the city with enough time to get down to the studio and get a quick rehearsal in with the in house band and meet Jenn in person. It was a long week and I was tired on the plane, but I knew this was gonna be my best opportunity to talk with Ally, fortunately we were sitting next to each other.

"So Ally, about that conversation we still haven't had?"

She looked up from the book she was reading like she wasn't sure what I was talking about, then she realized and kind of glared at me, "Not now, Austin, I just wanna read my book."

"If not now, then when, tomorrow morning you'll be on stage in front of a live studio audience and a national television audience as well. If we don't figure this out, how are you gonna manage to pull that off."

"I'm not gonna pull it off, I've already talked with Trish and she's pretty sure we can talk Jenn out of using me on stage. There's no way I can handle that."

I was mad; I couldn't believe those two went behind my back like that. "No, Ally, that's not gonna happen I want you on stage with me for the interview."

"I told you Austin, its not gonna happen, I can't handle being on stage I'll just embarrass you."

"I'm trying to help you figure out how you can handle it, because I want you on stage with us tomorrow." I paused, she looked a bit scared at the thought. "Listen, I've had meetings all week with labels that love me and what I do as a performer, but they seem to consider you and Trish and Dez an afterthought in my career. I want the world to know that I couldn't do this without you guys and I figured this interview tomorrow would be a great way to showcase that."

We were both quiet for a bit, but Ally finally spoke up, "I guess maybe I can give it a try."

"That's awesome, we just have to figure out why you are afraid to even be on a stage. What's the deal with that?"

"Its kind of personal, Austin, I don't like talking about it."

"Oh come on, Ally, I know we haven't been friends for a really long time, but I feel like we've become pretty close friends. We write music together, there isn't much that's more personal than that. If you can't talk to me about it, then who can you talk to?"

She was quiet for a few more minutes before she finally started to open up. "I guess I feel the same way about being myself on stage as I do about performing on stage."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know I guess I'm just afraid that who I am won't be good enough for other people. That I'll embarrass myself and never have another chance to make a good impression."

"You're kidding right Ally? You're one of the coolest people I know. You're friendly, you're kind, you're fun to be around, and you're one of a kind. What's not to like about that? People will love you if you just be yourself, that's what won me over."

"That's really nice, Austin, but I just don't think I can convince myself of that. There are too many unknowns once you get in front of an audience. I could trip and fall and make a complete fool of myself. I could say something really stupid and seem like an idiot. I just don't think I can handle that pressure."

"Everybody makes mistakes, its how we handle them that shows people our true character. If you trip and fall get up and laugh about your clumsy feet, if you say something stupid make a joke and move on. Nobody likes the perfect person, they much prefer the person that knows how to handle themselves when things don't go their way."

"I'm just afraid I won't be able to do that."

"I know you can handle it; and you won't have to worry this time because I'll be right next to you ready to help you out if anything goes wrong."

She smiled up at me and then leaned in for a half hug, "Thanks, Austin, I'm happy to have you by my side." That hug was the day that I really started to understand how close Ally and I are. In just the span of a few months we had become great friends we always seemed to know what the other one needed to hear and we were always there to tell it to them. We grew very close over our music and developed a special friendship and partnership. I don't think I've ever had the kind of relationship that Ally and I have, with anyone before and I doubt I will ever again.

We finally landed in Chicago and headed straight for the studio. Rehearsal went great and we all understood how things were gonna go. We were gonna start with the interview and then take a commercial break before my performance. They wanted two songs, our new one, "Heard it on the Radio" and then I also chose "Break Down the Walls." Jenn wasn't there but her producer talked us through everything and then sent us off in their car over to our hotel. She said they had made all the arrangements and that wake up calls were already set up and that there would be a car waiting to take us back to the studio at 9am.

I was really excited about the next day, I couldn't wait to perform before a live, national audience, but at the same time I couldn't help worrying about Ally and her stage fright. I knew if she could put her worries behind her she'd be great, but I was afraid she'd get in her own way and make a fool out of herself. I knew that no matter what else happened I'd be right there to protect her.

The morning flew by as we had to get ready, grab breakfast, and head to the studio in a real hurry. We got there and then got rushed through makeup and put in the green room. The show was gonna start in about fifteen minutes so we all just tried to relax and wait for our cue.

"How are you feeling about this Ally I know you don't like being on stage?" Trish asked the question this time.

"I'm nervous but I think I'll be okay." She was breathing heavily and I knew she was close to breaking down. I wanted to say something, but couldn't think of what to say.

Fortunately Dez jumped in to help out, "What's to be nervous about, you're just having a conversation with three of your best friends and that really nice lady, Jenn. I think you might be over reacting."

We all kind of smiled at that, even Ally gave a half smile. Dez always knew how to lighten the mood, but I could tell she was still nervous.

A few minutes later we were told they needed us backstage so we could get ready to go on. Jenn always had her guests stand behind a curtain that was then pulled aside to reveal them. So we were put in place behind the curtain just as they were going to the first commercial break.

Jenn started our introduction and I could feel Ally shaking behind me. I looked at her and reached over to grab her hand. I squeezed it and she looked at me. I wanted to tell her that I would always be there for her, but I think my actions made that point for me. I guess we lost track of where she was in the introduction because all of a sudden the curtain swung back and we were on national tv. I released Ally's hand and we all walked out to join Jenn on stage. I sat closest to her with Ally next me followed by Trish and then Dez.

"Welcome guys, we're excited to have you here, it must have been a wild few months for you guys huh? How did you feel when that first video went viral?"

I decided the truth was probably the best answer here; I gave Ally a look and she seemed to nod approval. "Well it was exciting sure, but I didn't have much of a chance to feel that excitement. You see I hadn't exactly gotten Ally's permission to use her song in my video..."

Jenn interrupted, "Oh boy, I smell a scandal. How'd you feel about that Ally?"

Ally smiled at Jenn and seemed to consider the question, "Well I was really angry at first, but he hunted me down and apologized, that meant a lot. Also it was pretty cool to know that my song had been heard by so many people."

I was proud of Ally she handled that really well, as long as we didn't get surprised by anything I thought she'd be okay. "Wow, a pretty rough start to your partnership, but now look at you, if I'm not mistaken you two were holding hands when that curtain opened up. Is there a romantic relationship you guys haven't told us about?" Uh oh.

I decided to speak first to give Ally a chance to think, but I couldn't seem to hold back a blush. "Sorry, Jenn, no story there, were just good friends and partners."

Ally jumped in, "I was nervous about this interview and he was just comforting me and trying to get me to relax."

"Well I guess we'll have to take your word for it," Jenn said as she exaggerated a wink to her audience. The rest of the interview went great. Ally handled everything really well. Dez was his usual charming and unusual self. Trish handled a lot of the business questions and really took a lot of pressure off Ally and I. All and all it was great and I totally nailed the songs too. I figured after that interview there's no way record labels could ignore Team Austin anymore. After my performance we were all back in the green room where we were told to wait because Jenn wanted to speak with us for a few minutes.

We spent a few minutes just hanging out, "You were awesome Ally, no one would believe you really have stage fright after that interview." I couldn't believe how well she did and just had to make sure she knew it.

"Well how about you and that awesome performance, there's no way we aren't getting a record deal now." Ally was really excited about how well it went.

But the excitement was cut short because Jenn showed up a few seconds later, "You guys were great out there, I just know its gonna be a huge boost to your popularity, but there is something else I wanted to talk about. I understand you've been meeting with record companies this past week, Have you made any decisions yet?"

"Not yet, I want to feel like the label I sign with has the same priorities and goals for my career as I do." I answered her question, but I was certainly curious about why she asked it.

"I totally understand that. Its the Team Austin thing right? To them its this cute thing you kids are doing together, but to you its what makes you work as a performer."

"That's exactly right, I don't wanna sign with a company that's gonna take me away from roots and try to replace all my friends. I want a company that isn't just signing with me, but is actually signing with all of Team Austin."

Jenn seemed impressed, "I love that kind of loyalty and I love Team Austin as a whole." She paused for a second, "I'm not sure if you know this but I recently started my own record label. Over the years I've met tons of talented musicians who either struggled to find a label or often disagreed or fought with the labels they had. I wanted to start a label where these talented individuals could just be themselves and sell the world on their talent. To make a long story short, Austin, I want you to be my first artist."


	7. A Twitter Feeding Frenzy

I agreed to sign with Jenn's record label, it just seemed like the right fit; she wanted all of Team Austin and not just me. Unfortunately we didn't get much of a chance to celebrate the victory, by the time we got back to Miami that night the internet had exploded with news of my signing with Jenn. After all she was really famous and I was her first artist. Along with that news rumors were also being spread about Ally and I dating. Apparently the hand holding moment was a bigger deal than we thought it would be.

Dez and I were just hanging out in his basement when he found the rumor online. "I can't believe you didn't tell me you and Ally are dating! I thought I was your best friend and I have to learn about it from a gossip blog, I can't believe you!"

"What are you talking about Dez? Ally and I aren't dating that must be some kind of rumor." I reached over and pulled the tablet out of his hand to take a look. "This is crazy this rumor is all over the internet. All because of me giving Ally's hand a little squeeze."

"I'm just glad its only a rumor, I'd hate to think I'd be the last to know about you dating Ally."

"Of course I'd tell you man, you'd be my first call, but we really gotta try to tame this rumor." I hopped on twitter and decided to put a stop to the rumor once and for all.

AustinMoon: Definitely not dating AllyGator365, just friends; not that she's disgusting or anything.

"There that should clear things up." But it most definitely didn't. Some people refused to believe because apparently we want our love to be in secret. Others believed that we weren't dating, but because of the whole not disgusting comment I made they now think I'm madly in love with her and she's resisting.

"I can't believe Ally spurned your love like that; it doesn't seem like her at all."

"Dez, stop reading twitter, this whole thing is getting out of hand, I'm gonna try one more time to shut these people up."

AustinMoon: Seriously Allygator365 and I are just friends; that means there's another great girl out there for you single guys.

Instead of solving anything it only seemed to make matters worse. Now some of my fans were attacking Ally for pushing me aside to try and go after other guys. I couldn't believe how idiotic these people were being.

Austy#1fan42: I can't believe Allygator365 would turn down a hottie like AustinMoon #toogoodforheranyway

Moongirl97: Allygator365 is such a slut, already trolling the internet for more boy toys #ichooseaustin

Auslly1234: I don't care what his tweet says, they are definitely dating #Meanttobe #Auslly

"Its official, I think I hate twitter now." In a way I was honored that they care so much about me to get this involved, but at the same time things were getting out of control.

AustinMoon: Allygator365 is one of my best friends, if you say anything bad about her #youhavetoanswertome

"Now I'm just mad, I don't even really care what they think about me anymore, they just better stop talking shit about Ally."

Dezbot3000: Uh oh AustinMoon is mad now. He just said a bad word and he never does that #chivalryinaction

"Seriously, Dez? Why did you have to jump in?"

"It just looked like so much fun. I think I might have started something."

Popgirl3345: Stand with AustinMoon and shut the bullies up #chivalryinaction

MrsMoon998: I wish I had an AustinMoon to defend my honor #chivalryinaction

Ausllyfan98: What a great boyfriend AustinMoon, you're lucky Allygator365 #chivalryinaction #Auslly

Even some celebrities were getting involved.

JennHartley: That's why I love AustinMoon #chivalryinaction

JustinBieber: That's what I call #Boyfriend material, way to be AustinMoon #chivalryinaction

JimmyStar: Sure he's the first artist to turn me down, but AustinMoon #gotclass #chivalryinaction

"Would you look at that, my hashtag is trending nationwide. I might be famous, too, by now." Dez was real proud of himself, but I was still stunned by the chaos that was my life at that moment.

"Its weird how involved all these people think they are in my personal life."

"You're famous now, get used to it." Dez was back on his tablet.

Dezbot3000: I'm pretty sure AustinMoon and Allygator365 would like you all to shut up and #mindyourownbusiness

TrishDLR: You haters better lay off my girl Allygator365. You don't wanna mess with an angry Latina #mindyourownbusiness

"Uh oh, Trish knows now, which means Ally will find out any second now. I hope she's gonna be okay." I was really worried all the attention was gonna cause Ally to lose the confidence she had gained due to the interview.

"Don't worry, Ally's tougher than we give her credit for, I'm sure she'll be fine." Dez was a lot more confident than I was.

Allygator365: A million new followers, its like I'm famous or something. FYI AustinMoon is an awesome friend #chivalryinaction

JennHartley: After today I think Allygator365 will be about as famous as AustinMoon #GOTEAMAUSTIN

AustinMoon: I'm sorry you had to go through this Allygator365 its my fault #youcanpunchmeifyouwant

Allygator365: AustinMoon Are you kidding me? I love this stuff, these people are hilarious #betterthanacomedyclub

AustinMoon: Allygator365 Still I owe you big time #whensorryisntenough

I got a text from Ally shortly after my last tweet, "Seriously its no big deal, let them believe what they want to believe, thanks for sticking up for me." I was glad she was really doing okay I was worried she would freak out and go back into her shell and never come out. I like the confident Ally, she surprises me in way the old Ally never could have.

I guess I get why people have trouble understanding our relationship. I'm not even totally sure if I understand it myself. I'm pretty sure there are at least some mutual feelings going on between us, but at the same time why complicate the awesome relationship we already have. I mean we totally get each other and we'd do absolutely anything for each other, but that's what good friends do for each other.

Although it hardly feels like were just normal friends either. Who knows? And who has time to think about it? When I got home that night, I pulled out the little journal/song book that Ally gave me and I just started writing. Normally its impossible for me to put words on the page, but that night they flowed out of me. It was one of those times songwriters talk about where there emotions and feelings just poured out onto the page.

It was coming along great and with everything running through my head I knew I wasn't gonna be able to sleep anyway. So after I finished the lyrics I went to my keyboard, plugged in my headphones and went to work on the music. I couldn't believe it I was writing a song all by myself. I couldn't wait to share it with Ally. By the time I finished it, it was 8 in the morning and Sonic Boom was gonna be open in an hour. So I hopped in the shower and went over to be there when Ally opened up the store.

I got there a few minutes early and I had to wait for Ally to show up. "Austin? What are you doing here so early?"

"I wanted to apologize in person about the craziness last night, I can't believe it got so out of hand."

"It really did. Did you see that they kept it up overnight? The hashtags went from #chivalryinaction to #austininthedoghouse to #ausllyforever."

"Auslly?"

"Apparently that's our couple name. Cute right?"

"Yeah I guess, Anyway I also spent most of the night thinking about our relationship, since its obviously going to be a topic of conversation from here on out. Anyway I thought about it and I have something to show you."

"Oh exciting, when do I get to see it?"

"As soon as you open up those doors, Ally." She opened the doors and wandered around getting the store ready for the day and we chatted a little bit more while she did. "Have you ever really sat and thought about our relationship?"

"I guess I have, but I've always come to the conclusion that I love what we have now so why dwell on it," she managed to get this out while she raised the blinds, filled the register with change, and wiped down the counter.

"Yeah I came to a similar conclusion." After that we sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes while she finished opening up the store.

Then she stopped and came to sit next to me on the piano bench. "So what did you want to show me?"

I held up the book she gave me and simply said, "This."

"Oh you used the book I gave you, very cool."

"Trust me, that's not the cool part." I opened the book up and started to play my song, the one I called "Not A Love Song." Ally really seemed to get into it, she even started to sing along on the chorus and punched me in the arm when I sang that she could. I thought things might be a bit weird between us after being accused of being a couple, but we had fun playing music together like we always did.

When I finished Ally just looked at me a bit stunned, "Austin Monica Moon, you lied to me!"

"When did I lie? And who told you my middle name was Monica?"

"Who do you think?"

"Dez!" I muttered in fake anger.

"You lied to me when you said you're not a songwriter. That was incredible. I loved it. We should post a video of that ASAP, maybe it will finally negate that stupid rumor about us dating."

"I was thinking the same thing, but the only way its really gonna work is if you're in the video with me."

I could tell she was thinking about it and then she shrugged, "Why not? Its not like its live and I don't have to sing or anything so sure lets do it." We called up Trish and Dez and told them to get over to Sonic Boom as quick as possible. Trish called Jenn as soon as she heard our plans, she wanted to keep her looped in about what we were doing.

Jenn liked the idea so we pushed ahead with it. Trish watched the store while Dez, Ally and I went to work on the video. We settled on a simple set up, just Ally and I sitting at the piano while I played, then we would overlay some shots of me dancing around on stage with my band in the background. By the end of the day we had the whole thing finished and posted on our website. I decided this particular video needed a twitter shout out.

AustinMoon: I wrote a song about my feelings for Allygator365, but don't get excited it's #NotALoveSong [tinyurl here]

I was really excited about this song especially since it was the first song I'd ever actually written on my own. But I was also really curious what the song might do to stop the rumors about me and Ally. And the moment of truth was about to happen on twitter.

Austie4lif3: So they aren't dating, BFFs then, I love these two. #NotALoveSong AustinMoon Allygator365

Ausllyfan98: AustinMoon wrote a song for Allygator365 try and tell me they don't love each other #SoALoveSong #Auslly4ever

JustinBieber: AustinMoon can write too, I like his style. Even has a pretty girl by his side Allygator365 #NotALoveSong

JennHartley: That's #TeamAustin for you writing a song and shooting the video in less than a day #NotALoveSong

JimmyStar: Still mad at AustinMoon for turning down my offer, great work on that newest video #NotALoveSong

I guess our video was a hit people really seemed to like it. I'm so happy that we can put these silly romantic rumors to rest for a little while. Maybe now my grown up career can get off the ground.


	8. New Year's Eve in Time Square

So the couple months following my signing and the craziness of the Auslly rumors, which I'm pretty sure will plague us our whole careers, we spent much of the time working on new songs and recording the ones we already had in place to put on the album. So I spent a lot of time in the studio Jenn booked for us in Miami, Dez spent tons of time planning his first professionally funded and equipped video shoot and then shooting it, Ally spent lots of time brainstorming song ideas to work on when I had more time, and Trish was busy booking a few local gigs, planning my album release press tour, and beginning the process of planning my first nationwide tour.

Needless to say November and the early weeks of December were very hectic, but by Christmas we were ready for the album release on New Year's Day. I was set to hit the talk show circuit the week between Christmas and the New Year and Trish said she was working on something big for me. We had planned to do Christmas with our families that morning and then get together that night to do our own Christmas thing and lay out a plan for the week.

We decided we'd keep the Christmas spirit alive for a little while longer by exchanging gifts before we went to work. Dez made me an epic replica of a Freddy Kreuger mask and claws. I love horror movies so this was awesome and I couldn't believe he made it all himself, I couldn't help myself and I slipped them both on just for fun. I wanted to spoil my friends this year since I just signed a record deal and was finally making some money. So I bought Dez a top of the line video camera, something small enough he could use for everyday stuff, but good enough that he could use for real film shoots. I gave Trish a brand new top of the line tablet, I'd known she had been talking about getting one and I knew she'd probably need to help keep my eventual tour organized.

I gave Ally a top of the line portable keyboard that she could use to write songs on when we are on the road. I had something else for her too, but I wanted to wait until we had some time to ourselves. Ally gave me the book "Songwriting for Dummies" and a brand new empty song book, she told me that she knew I'd fill the old one up in no time. After the success of Not a Love song, Ally had really been pushing me to keep writing songs, but I'd been too busy and hadn't really found any inspiration.

Anyway Ally pulled out her gavel and called our Team Austin meeting to order. Trish was the first to speak, "Austin, you may have noticed but I didn't give you a Christmas present before the meeting started."

"I guess you didn't, I didn't even notice." I totally noticed.

"Well that's because my gift also has to do with Team Austin."

"Well that makes sense, what is it?" She seemed to be purposefully drawing out the announcement so it had to be something big and I was getting really excited.

"Well its a gig I booked for you this next week."

"I have gigs all the time what's so special about this one?"

"The place and time of the gig are pretty special."

At this point I was dying of anticipation already and apparently I wasn't the only one. Dez jumped in, "Oh just tell us! I can't stand it anymore!"

"Okay, okay, calm down. I just got you a gig to play at Times Square on New Year's Eve." I was completely speechless, my music dream was gonna come true in just a week. I had a really hard time processing it all.

Dez didn't, he started jumping up and down and screaming about how awesome it was. Ally was excited too, "I'm so happy for you Austin its what you've always wanted to do." She hugged me and I finally found my voice.

"That's amazing Trish, probably the best birthday present I'll ever get. How'd you pull it off, I thought they had New Year's Eve booked months ago?"

"They did and you weren't famous enough then to get booked, but one of their acts had to drop out this last week. I spent all week bugging the promoter to replace the act with you. With your album coming out the next day he was sold on the idea of you performing. You only get one song, but I knew that wouldn't matter, all you ever need is one song to wow an audience."

"How's the gig gonna work with my press schedule are we in New York that day?"

"Yep, I've been making inquiries about New Year's Eve for weeks so I made sure we kept the schedule open so you could make it to Times Square. You're shooting Letterman that morning, so you'll have most of the day to rehearse and prepare for the big event."

"That's so cool of you Trish, thanks so much." I pulled her into a big hug.

"Well its my job ain't it." She pulled away and smiled, "I'm just not sure why Dez freaked out so much about it, he knew about it yesterday when I found out."

Dez looked confused for a second and then said, "Oh that's the Times Square you were talking about. I thought you were just ordering some pizza from that place downtown."

"Whatever," Trish went right back to business mode. "So that changes the plans a bit for the week. Dez and I aren't going on the trip with you guys this week. We're gonna stay here for a couple of days so Dez can help finalize the "A Billion Hits" video and then we're gonna head up to New York a couple days early to work out some of the details of your performance."

"So Ally and I are doing the trip alone? She doesn't have to come either if she doesn't want to, I don't mind traveling by myself."

"Its fine, Austin, I'd love to make the trip with you."

"That's good because every show wants you both on the air. That rumor certainly has legs, every show wants to try and catch you two in another "Auslly" moment."

We rolled our eyes at that, but I was excited to travel with Ally anyway. "Then I guess its just you and me Ally. What's the schedule look like?"

"Glad you asked," Trish said with a sadistic smile on her face, "We had to put you on a red eye to LA tonight. You're flight leaves at 11:30pm our time and gets in at 1am in LA. You will be shooting a segment on two different morning shows tomorrow and your Leno Appearance later that morning. Leno is where you will announce the New Year's Eve performance. Then the next day, I think that's Thursday you will be shooting your appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon in New York. He wants you to perform with the Roots while you're there. Then on Friday you will be in Chicago doing a segment on Jenn's show, you'll be in Chicago through Saturday evening doing mostly radio interviews while you're there. Then you'll make a final trip to New York Sunday where you will do some more radio interviews before you shoot Letterman on Monday morning."

I was a little shell-shocked and I was pretty sure I had already forgotten most of that schedule, "There is no way I'm gonna remember all that, how am I supposed to keep up with all of that."

"I'm with Austin. I'm the organized one and that was still overwhelming."

"Don't worry you two, Jenn hired an assistant who's going to meet you in LA and make sure you keep to the schedule."

That was a relief at least, but the meeting had to come to an end because it was already 6:30pm and Ally and I had to be packed and at the airport in less than three hours. I knew it was gonna be a long week, but I knew it was gonna pay off with an awesome performance and the release of my first album.

After we made it to the airport it was looking like it was gonna be a nice and relaxing wait for our plane. However that was interrupted when an entire troop of girl scouts walked by us and recognized me. We spent the next half hour signing autographs and taking pictures with noisy little girls. I love my fans and all but it can be exhausting when you don't expect to run into them. Fortunately their flight was taking off before ours and their troop leaders led them away and we got a few minutes of quiet before we had to board the flight.

When we found our seats and started to get settled in, I decided it was time I give Ally the rest of her Christmas gift. "So Ally, the keyboard wasn't the only thing I got you for Christmas."

"You're kidding! That was more than enough, I don't need anything else."

"Well the rest of this gift is more of a challenge than a gift." I pulled out two small wrapped boxes from my backpack. I handed the bigger one to her, but held onto to the smaller one for a second longer. "The big one you get to keep, this smaller one you get to open, but you don't get to keep it yet. You have to earn it."

I handed her the smaller box as well as she opened the big one. Inside the big one was a charm bracelet without a single charm on it. She was thrilled and put it on immediately, "Thanks Austin, I love it, but no charms?"

"Wow, you went from 'no I don't need anything else' to expecting even more from me in a real hurry. What do you think the small box is for?"

She ripped into the small package and found the little golden microphone charm I bought for the bracelet. "Its a microphone, what is that supposed to mean?"

"Well I told you that you had to earn it," I plucked it from her hand before she was able to finish putting it on the bracelet. "You'll get this charm back the day you get up on stage and sing with me."

"Oh come on, Austin, that's not fair, you know I'm not ready for that."

"I know you're not ready right now, but I told you when this whole thing started that I wanted you to join me on stage. This is just incentive. I know you can do it, and I'm gonna nudge in you in that direction until you get there. Look at how far you've gone in just these few months. We're on a plane to do a half dozen national television interviews and you're hardly even nervous."

"Well I wouldn't say that, but I guess you are right, but I know I wouldn't be able to even do this much without you by my side."

"I'll always be here when you need me and I hope you'll be there too, cause I couldn't do this without you."

Shortly after take off we were both asleep and we slept soundly until we landed in LA. Our assistant was waiting for us at baggage claim. Her name was Cassidy and she was gorgeous. I was blown away by her at first glance. She told us there was a car waiting outside to take us to our hotel and that we'd only have a few hours to sleep because we had to be at the studio for our first morning show at 5am. I chatted with Cassidy for a bit in the car, I figured we had to spend all week with her, we might as well get to know.

Okay, I guess I kinda thought she was cute, and she was a pretty cool girl too. She was 17 (so what if she had a couple years on me) and she was in a band. She worked through a temp agency that specialized in entertainment based jobs like the one she had now. She said her band was pretty good; they had regular gigs and everything but they were having trouble getting somebody to sign them so she worked jobs like that one to get by. I really liked her, I kinda wanted to get to know her a little more.

Anyway we got to the hotel and figured we'd better get straight to bed to get a few more hours of sleep. Although that didn't work too well for me, I couldn't stop thinking about Cassidy and getting to know her better. Its been a while since I'd dated anyone all that seriously. I mean I've had a date here and there, but they were never anything serious. Cassidy seemed like the kind of girl I could really have a future with. I mean she was gorgeous and she loved music, that's a pretty good combination in my book.

I eventually got to sleep but only for an hour or so before we were whisked off to the studios to shoot all our interviews and plug the new album. It was a crazy day and I knew the week was only gonna get crazier, but I made sure to spend as much time as possible getting to know Cassidy. She was a little hard to read but I think she kinda dug me. Regardless, before I knew it we were on a plane to New York and a new Hotel for the night. I slept well that night after the long day I had and the next morning I was up and ready to tackle Jimmy Fallon's show.

The plan was for Ally and I to be the second guests of the night and then to have me end the show playing one of my songs with the Roots. I was really looking forward to it, I always liked Fallon, and the Roots are an awesome band. The time came and Ally and I hit the stage.

After we took our seats Jimmy launched his opening salvo, "Welcome guys, I know you're probably tired of hearing this, but I gotta ask the question. What's the deal with you two?"

"Were just friends Jimmy, and partners I guess." Ally used her awkwardness as a way to charm people and it was really effective.

"Yeah, we're pretty close, but that only makes sense because we write music together. There's nothing more personal to an artist than their music and we share that with each other. So yeah we're close, but we're just close friends."

"I guess that whole relationship was just cooked up by the celebrity rumor then. That's a pretty powerful rumor mill, you guys were like THE hot celebrity couple for a while and it turns out that you were never even a couple."

"That's right, and we're barely even celebrities." I responded.

"Don't be so down on yourself, your online videos have over ten million views, you opened for Justin Bieber at one of his concerts, and now you have your first album coming out and are playing Times Square on New Year's Eve. I can't believe you haven't realize it yet, but you've already reached celebrity status."

"Yeah I guess so, but its not like I'm anywhere near your level Jimmy." I smiled at him mischievously.

"You've learned this business well, flattery will get you everywhere. Your officially my new favorite pop star. One thing I am curious about though is your writing process. You've both said that you work together on the songs but how does that work?"

Ally spoke up for this one, "Well its really just a matter of having someone to bounce ideas off of. I do most of the writing myself, but Austin is always there to get me back on the right track or sometimes just to add a little more flavor to the music."

"Very cool, sounds like you guys work really well together. How about on the song, "Not A Love Song" that Austin's gonna perform later tonight, how did you guys work together on that one?"

"Actually Austin wrote that one all by himself, in one night, in fact."

"That's pretty impressive Austin, but didn't you steal Ally's song because you couldn't mange to write a song of your own? What changed?"

"Well, Jimmy, I guess I just got inspired after the whole "Auslly" rumor got started. It made me try to put into words what my relationship with Ally really was and the more I thought about the more words came to mind and before I knew I had the lyrics to a whole song. The music was easy enough once I knew what kind of song it was."

"Would you both agree that the lyrics of the song reflect the kind of relationship you two have?"

"Definitely!" Both Ally and I said that in unison. The crowd awed at that.

"You two are adorable, are you sure you aren't dating?"

"Trust me were not." Ally said.

"Well if you aren't dating each other then do either of you have any love interests you wanna share."

"Nope, its just me and my music," said Ally in a really weird voice for some strange reason.

"Well I'm not seeing anyone right now, but there is a girl I hope might be interested in going out with me sometime."

"Really well I'm sure she'd say yes, the girls seem to think you're pretty hunky." At that the girls in the audience screamed and at that Jimmy segued us back into talking about the album and my New Year's Eve performance. The rest of the interview went great and playing with the Roots was tons of fun.

The rest of our press trip was really great and on Friday Night I was able to talk Cassidy into having dinner with me. We had lots of fun and I learned a bit more about her. She told me she left her parents earlier in the year to pursue her music career by moving to LA. I respect the kind of courage that takes. She also let me listen to her band's demo, and they were awesome. Anyway the date went well and so did all of our interviews. Then it finally came time for me to perform live in front of millions of people in Times Square on New Year's Eve.

It was the most exciting performance of my life and I kicked butt. I sang "Heard it On the Radio" and I had the entire sitting jumping. Performing was something I knew I would never get tired of.


	9. A Complicated Story

My album released to enormous success. We couldn't have hoped for anything more. It went gold within the first week and gradual increased over the next few months. My career was for real now. I was no longer just an internet sensation, I was a legitimate pop star. But for some reason things just didn't feel like they were going my way.

I fell for a girl and she lived on the other side of the country. I can't believe I fell so hard for Cassidy in just the week we spent together. She was incredible. She's beautiful, funny, nice, and she cares as much about music as I do. She's a one of a kind girl and I couldn't stop thinking about her. And on top of that Ally was dealing with a serious case of writer's block and we hadn't written a new song since Christmas. It seemed like just when everything was going great, both my career and my love life just stalled out.

When we were traveling together for that week I really thought Cassidy and I were hitting it off, but after we got home she hardly responded to my texts. The thing is I knew she liked me, she practically told me so, but I didn't think she was comfortable with the whole long distance thing. I knew I just had to find a way to show her that I would do whatever it took to make it work. For the first couple weeks of the new year I was too busy to give her much attention. She left for LA on the first and I had to continue a nationwide press tour to sell the album.

She couldn't make it to see me when I stopped in LA, so all I had was the texts we sent to each other and those were few and far between. I tried calling her a few times but she wouldn't answer. I was really frustrated, I needed to talk it out with someone. So the next time I got a chance, at the end of our press tour, I pulled Ally aside to talk. I told her everything that happened between me and Cassidy, which granted wasn't a whole lot, but it didn't change how much I felt for her.

"Maybe you two just weren't meant to be, you live one opposite ends of the country you know."

That wasn't the advice I was hoping to get from Ally, and she seemed a bit distant. "I just can't get her out of my head. She's perfect but not too perfect. She makes me feel like, I don't like the feeling of putting on a new pair of shoes or eating a big stack of pancakes."

Ally gave me a weird look, "I'm not sure what that is supposed to me but if its genuinely how you feel, you should probably tell her, not me." While it was really good advice it still kind of felt like she was just trying to get me to go away. Maybe she just hates this kind of drama or something.

"Thanks Ally, that's a great idea." I ran off to go figure out how to tell Cassidy how I feel about her. I found myself in Dez's basement hanging with my best friend.

"I don't know Austin, sounds like you're having trouble expressing yourself," He said this while making flamboyant hand gestures, "Kinda like when you couldn't figure out how to squash the Auslly rumors."

That's when I had a brain storm, "That's it! You're a Genius Dez!"

Dez brushed off his shoulder and said, "I know." He then paused a little confused, "Wait, why?"

"I'll just do what I did for the Auslly stuff, I'll write a song for Cassidy and then I'll fly out to LA and sing it for her. You're the best Dez, I gotta get to work."

So there I was first night back in Miami once again and once again I was pulling an all-nighter writing a song all by myself. Inspiration can be death to your usual sleeping patterns. The words flowed out of me and splashed onto the page of my song book. The music came pretty quick too. By 4am I had a complete song and then I passed out on my bed.

I woke up that afternoon excited about my new song, I had to run and show it to Ally I couldn't believe I wrote another song. I think I was starting to actually get good at songwriting. I guess Ally was rubbing off on me. I sprinted to Sonic Boom and I think I panicked Ally because of how fast I ran in. I think she thought something was wrong. When she realized I had just written a new song she calmed down a little bit and asked to hear it. I told her I wrote it for Cassidy to tell her how I felt about her and then I played it for Ally.

"That was amazing, Austin, I'm sure that will win Cassidy over. I'm pretty sure you could get any girl with a song like that." Ally still seemed a little off, like she was sad and distant. As much as I wanted to rush out of there and catch a plane to LA, I had to find out what was going on with Ally.

"Thanks Ally, but is something wrong, you haven't seemed yourself recently?"

Ally forced a smile and looked at me, "No, I'm fine, just tired from that crazy press tour." She broke into the voice she uses when she tries to convince people she's not lying.

"Do you really think you're gonna get away with that with me? After all we've been through I can tell when you're hiding something. What's wrong?"

She dropped the act and turned away from me shyly, "I guess that ever since I saw you go all puppy love with Cassidy I realized how much I was missing someone special to talk to like the two of you did. I guess I'm just feeling a bit lonely."

"I'm sorry you're feeling that way, but its kind of silly. You're like the best person I've ever met so you'll meet someone special. I know you will and if they can't see how awesome you are, they don't deserve you anyway. Plus you aren't alone you have me and Trish and Dez. We're always here if you need cheering up."

She smiled at me as I pulled her into a hug, "Thanks, Austin, but don't you have a girl to go woo?" She still seemed a bit sad, but I figured it was just her being stubborn and not listening to me.

"You're right Ally I better get to the airport." At that I flew out the door, caught a cab to the airport and got a ticket for the next available flight to LA.

I didn't realize until after I got on the plane that I didn't have any idea where Cassidy lived. I also didn't bring any luggage other than my guitar or make any plans for a stay in LA. The flight landed at 8pm and I got a cab to take me to a hotel. After I checked in I called up the agency Jenn hired Cassidy through and was able to charm her address out of the receptionist. Then I figured I'd better go get some close for my big moment in the morning.

I barely got to sleep because of the excitement, but when I did I slept soundly til 9:30 the next morning. I couldn't believe I slept in that long and rushed to get ready to go find Cassidy. My cab pulled up to her place by 11am and I took a deep breath before I approached. I rang the doorbell and was greeted by a woman in her early twenties carrying a toddler. I was surprised but not deterred, Cassidy had mentioned that she lived with her brother and his wife.

"Hi, ma'am is Cassidy here?"

She just looked at me and smiled, "So you're Austin huh?"

"Yep that's me, and you must be Cassidy's sister-in-law. But she didn't say anything about the little guy, what's his name?"

"Brody." Brody waved at me before he hid his face in her shirt. "Sorry Austin, but Cassidy is at work this morning, thought she gets off at noon."

"Where does she work? I'll meet her there."

She hesitated for a second probably consider whether she should be telling me where Cassidy worked but then gave in, "She works down at the Melody Diner its just a couple miles away."

"Thank you so much!" And off I ran again to meet Cassidy at the Melody Diner. When I got there I rushed in with my guitar. Immediately people in the restaurant started whispering and pointing. I could tell some of them recognized me, but I didn't care. I spotted Cassidy behind the counter and rushed over to her.

"Hey there, mind if sit down and stay a while?" I thought I was being smooth and romantic, that I'd sweep her off her feet.

Instead she looked sad that I had come, "What are you doing here Austin?"

"Well you weren't really responding to my texts and you ignored all my calls. I figured I'd better come in person to sweep you off your feet."

"You shouldn't have done that Austin..."

"Just wait before you say anything else, I wrote a song for you. Its the only way I could figure out how to tell you how I feel." I started strumming my guitar and I sang my brand new song "Heart Beat." When I finished the entire diner was cheering and Cassidy was smiling at me. I thought I was golden. "I know you're worried about the long distance thing getting in the way, but I wanted to let you know that I'll do anything to make it work if you just give me a chance."

Her smile faded and she looked away, "There's no denying that I have feelings for you too Austin, but there's just too much going on in my life right now. I don't have time to try and make it work right now."

I couldn't believe after all that she was still gonna turn me down, I was hurt and a little bit mad. I didn't say anything right away and Cassidy had to check on her tables. I was still in a stunned silence when Cassidy's sister-in-law walked in with Brody. Brody ran up to Cassidy calling out "Mommy." That made me come out of my stupor and approach Cassidy.

"Why did your nephew just call you mommy?"

She just gave me a look, "Because Austin, he's not my nephew, he's my son. I'm trying to balance two jobs, my music career, and my son. I'm barely making it. I might only be a couple years older than you Austin, but I've got too much going on to get caught up in a teenage romance. I do like you Austin, and I'm sorry you had to come all the way here just for this, but its not gonna work out." She walked off and left me standing there speechless. Finding out that she had a kid was a whole lot to process.

I made my way back to my hotel to think things over. It was weird to think about Cassidy as a mother. I mean I know teenage mothers are fairly common nowadays, but I guess I never really thought about what it meant. I mean, Brody had to be close to two years old, which would mean that Cassidy was fifteen when she had him. That's as old as I was at the time and I couldn't imagine what it would be like to have to raise a kid at my age. I thought life as a celebrity was tough to deal with, but it didn't even compare to what Cassidy went through every day.

I thought knowing that she had a kid would totally scare me away, but it just made me realize all the more, how awesome she really was. Going through all she's been through, but still following her dreams. She was unbelievable and I think I liked her even more because of it. I decided I had to go back to her place and tell her how much I respected what she did everyday.

I knocked on the door and her sister-in-law (I can't believe I don't remember her name, I'm so bad with names) opened the door. She turned back into the house and called for Cassidy.

She came out and saw me, "Austin, wha..."

"I wanted to come and tell you something. Cassidy, you might be the most remarkable person I've ever met. You're a teenage mom, working two jobs and you still find time to follow your dreams. I can't begin to imagine how tough its been for you, but I'm amazed at your attitude about it all. I respect that you can't have a teenage romance right now, how could you have one, Brody here made that kind of innocent relationship impossible. But maybe you'd be interested in a more grown up relationship, one that includes Brody and everything else about your hectic life. I really like you Cassidy, and I know it'll be complicated, but I'd really like to make something work between you and I." I paused briefly trying to make it through this whole speech without freaking out about it, "I guess what I'm trying to say is, would you and Brody like to come out and grab something to eat with me?"


	10. The Best Present

I feel like I've got to be one of the only people in the world who got to celebrate his 16th birthday and his first record going platinum on the same day. Its a pretty cool feeling knowing how successful I've become at such a young age. Its also nice that my parents let me finish school through a tutor, cause I was not looking forward to the craziness my fame would cause at school. In fact, it was Jenn's idea to hire a tutor, however it was my idea to convince everyone that Ally, Trish, and Dez should use the tutor as well. Really it was just like being in class with just the four of us.

I also found out the hard way that it would be best if I hired a full time security guard. One day, a couple weeks after the release of my album I went to a movie downtown with Dez and a few other guys from our school. Its a bit embarrassing to explain, but essentially I got mobbed by a crowd of adoring fans and they ripped off most of my clothes and almost trampled me while they fought over them. Dez and I both realized that my social life was gonna be incredibly limiting until I got some security.

It was actually kind of a fun process, we put out an ad for a full time security guard and got a ton of responses. I'm surprised how much fun I had going through resumes. I guess its more fun when the resumes include military records and sometimes MMA careers. They all seemed like guys I wouldn't wanna get angry and that was perfect for a security guard. We narrowed down the list and met with a few of them in person. I didn't just want a stiff standing in the corner. I wanted someone who could be my friend and protect me at the same time. We settled on a guy named Jonathan. I doubt I'll mention him much in the rest of this little journal but he became a part of team Austin so I thought I'd give him a shout out. And really the fact that I had to get a security guard is a pretty awesome part of my career. I mean only the biggest stars need security guards.

Anyway I guess I should get back on track, after my dinner that night with Cassidy we decided we'd give the whole long distance thing a go. She was at a point in her life that she didn't necessarily need me right by her side everyday anyway so we thought it might work. We skyped almost everyday when we both found the time and I tried to make trips out to see her every couple weeks. It was weird, we weren't usually all that lovey dovey with each other. Sure we had our moments, but it was much more about just being there for each other. It certainly felt like that grown up relationship I told her we could have together. I liked it, I felt a lot closer to her then I ever did any of my other girlfriends. Although I'd never really had a serious girlfriend before so I guess I can't really compare.

And while things had been going great with Cassidy, my relationship with Ally still wasn't the same. We didn't talk the way we used to and I couldn't get her to tell me what was going on. I didn't buy for a second the whole "I'm just lonely thing." But I also had no idea what was really going on with her. It was really frustrating and I vented about it to Cassidy fairly often. She finally got tired of the venting and told me to just go talk with Trish about it if I felt like I couldn't talk with Ally. It was a great idea and I'm not sure how I never thought of it before.

So the next day I cornered Trish in the food court to ask her about Ally. "Hey Trish, do you know what's going on with Ally, she's been a bit distant lately and I can't get her to talk to me about it."

"Its taken you this long to talk to me about it? Of course I know what's going on with Ally, I think most people who have ever met the two of you know what's going on with Ally. You can be pretty dense sometimes."

"Okay, enough of making me feel like a jerk, just tell me what's wrong."

"You really don't know, wow, you're a complete moron. Tell me Austin, when did you start to notice Ally acting this way?"

I thought about it for a second before I answered, "I guess it was probably just before New Year's Eve when we were on that press tour together, what does that have to do with anything?"

Trish just shook her head at me like she was disgusted by me, "What was the other big change in your life that happened about the same time?"

"Well I met Cassidy, but I'm still not seeing why that would make Ally go all weird."

"Wow, I didn't know it was possible for someone to be this much of a dope. I guess I'll spell it out for you. Ally likes you Austin, though she probably won't admit it, she jealous and hurt that you chose someone else over her. I can't believe how thick you are that you didn't pick up on that."

I was a bit shocked to hear that and probably a bit in denial, "No way, Ally and I are just friends and partners. We've been telling everyone that for months."

"Well guess what Austin, she wants to be more than friends and partners." At that Trish stormed off in frustration. I just sat there thinking about it and the more I thought about it the more it made sense. I didn't want to believe it though, I didn't want that complication in my life. While I was sitting there thinking, Dez wandered up.

"What's up buddy, why so serious?" He could really nail that creepy Joker voice.

"Not much, Trish just had this really crazy idea and I guess I'm just trying to process it."

"Yeah she gets those, she once tried to convince me that Zebras were real, how much crazier can it get than that?"

"She told me Ally liked me and that's why she's been acting so funny recently."

I started laughing and Dez joined me before he snapped into a serious face, "Yeah. No that one is definitely true, Ally totally has a thing for you."

"What!? You too. Is it really that obvious, how have I missed it this whole time?"

"Well the obvious answer to that question has to be your obsession with Cassidy over the past couple of months."

" I guess that's true, I haven't really paid as much attention to Ally as I did before I met Cassidy, but I still can't believe I missed something this big, its a huge shock."

"I don't know why you're so surprised, don't you remember back when the Auslly rumors started? You told me you were pretty sure that you both had some feelings for each other, but that you'd rather put them aside so that you could still be friends and partners. Apparently Ally wasn't as ready to do that as you were." Its rare when Dez gets this serious so I know it must be pretty important to him too.

"What do you think I should do now? I mean I like the relationship I had with Ally before this whole thing came up, but now I don't know if we'll ever be able to get back to that. Ally was one of the closest friends I have ever had before this all started, now we barely talk. I just miss that special bond we had as close friends and writing partners, I've never experienced that type of closeness before."

"Maybe you should just tell Ally that. Tell her that she means more to you as a friend than anything you might otherwise have together." Dez was a pretty smart guy sometimes, maybe he did deserve that nickname he gave himself, "The Love Whisperer."

If you can believe it things were even more awkward between Ally and I over the next week. Little did I know a surprise party to celebrate my birthday and my record going platinum was being planned on my birthday, February 24th. All the awkwardness between Ally and I was building all that week leading up to my birthday. I decided I was finally gonna gather my courage and go and confront Ally about her feelings for me and I was all gung ho about going straight to Sonic Boom that morning to talk to her, but Dez forced me to spend my day with him as his birthday present to me. At the time the day seemed like an odd selection of things to do on a birthday, but now I realize that Dez was just the distraction to keep me from figuring out about my party.

When we finally found our way to Sonic Boom I was surprised by the awesome party my friends and family had thrown for me. All my closest friends from school were there and of course Ally, Trish and Dez. My whole family was there, even some who had to travel a ways. And Jenn Hartley even flew down from Chicago to celebrate with me. I was a bit disappointed that Cassidy wasn't there, but all the rest of my friends were so I couldn't be that sad. Shortly after realizing she wasn't there Dez came over with Cassidy on skype. She told me that she wanted to come and even planned on it, but she had to cancel because Brody got sick and she couldn't leave him. I was sad of course, but I understood, we talked for a few minutes and then said our goodbyes so I could get back to the rest of the party.

I was blown away by the awesome party and I was told the best was yet to come. There was a stage set up in the corner with a piano on it. The part had been going on for a while and eventually Trish hopped up on stage.

"Okay everybody, quiet down, we some very special entertainment for tonight. We're also counting it as a special gift for the birthday boy and record selling superstar. Tonight for the first time ever, please welcome to the stage my best friend, Ally Dawson." Trish pointed to Ally who was right next to the stage, but instead of stepping up to the microphone, she ran up the stairs to her practice room.

I was thrilled that Ally wanted to face her fear and sing for me on my birthday. But on the other side of things I was crushed that the awkward state of our relationship is probably what made her give into her fears. I had to do something about it, so I chased after her up the stairs. I got to the door of her practice room and knocked, "Ally, it's Austin, I'm coming in, I think we need to talk." I stepped into the practice room and Ally was sitting quietly over on the piano bench. I went and sat next to her. We were both silent for a moment. I didn't really know what to say, these conversations are kind of difficult to start, but eventually I found the courage to dive in. "So a couple little birdies told me that you might have some feelings for me?"

"Yeah, I guess that's true." She was being all awkward and shy around me like we had never met before.

I decided I needed to try and change the subject a bit, "Oh great, shy Ally is back. I thought we left her back in the green room of the Jennifer Hartley Show." Ally smiled a bit, I continued more serious now, "Ally, if you think for a second that I've never had a romantic thought for you than you must be crazy. You're an incredible girl and you're beautiful to boot." She gave me this look that seemed to ask about why I was dating Cassidy, if I like Ally.

She went back to looking at the piano keys in front of her, but I wouldn't have it I grabbed her shoulders lightly and turned her to face me more directly and she looked up. "Ally, I value your friendship more highly than anything else in my life. I feel like I can tell you anything and that you'll always be by my side no matter what I'm facing. I like to think we bring the best out of each other. Why would I wanna risk that kind of relationship to the muddy waters of teenage romance? I've missed you these past couple of months."

I was gonna go on, but she spoke up, "I've missed you too Austin and you're right, we do bring the best out of each other. Before I met you I wouldn't have even thought about getting up in front of people and tonight I was all ready to perform on stage in front of a real audience. That was all because of you. I'm sorry I've been so distant recently, I guess I just didn't realize how much I cared about you 'til there was another girl in the picture. I understand why you want to stay friends it makes sense."

She still seemed a bit sad, "Don't think you mean any less to me just because I'm dating someone else. I don't know what I'd do without you; you keep me grounded and there's no way I could make it without you."

"Thanks Austin, that really means a lot." Then she sighed big as she realized she still had to go downstairs and perform. I could tell she was still really nervous, but I had a trick up my sleeve. I reached for Ally's wrist and pulled it towards me. She looked at me confused. I pulled the little golden microphone charm from my pocket and put it on her charm bracelet. She smiled at me in shock, "How'd you know, you'd need that tonight?"

"I didn't, it's been in my pocket since the day I gave you the bracelet. I knew it was just a matter of time before you'd be ready to perform and I didn't want to be caught unprepared. Ally you've always had it in you, you've just never believed in yourself enough to put yourself out there. You're dream is to be out there on stage performing your music for the world to hear. You've gotta put your fear behind you so that you can get up there and achieve that dream."

"I'm still scared, Austin, I'm not sure I can do this."

"I know you can do it, but if you makes you feel better, I can join you."

"You'd do that?"

"Of course, I can't think of a better birthday present then singing on stage with my best friend. We'll sing that new one you wrote, its awesome."

"How'd you even know about that? Did you touch my book?"

I grinned at her, "Well you left it open, but really the song is awesome so lets go down there and rock it."

"Deal," we got up and hugged. I grabbed the guitar from the practice room and we both headed back downstairs. I ran up to the stage and grabbed the mic.

"Sorry for the delay folks, and I want to thank everyone for coming out and making this day so awesome. Now I get the immense privilege of performing with one of my best friends. So for real this time, please welcome Ally Dawson."

I started playing the song, "You Can Come to Me" and we sang it together. The words fit so well with the kind of friendship we had it was great. We couldn't help but smile with each other as we sang it side by side on stage. We kept looking at each other because we both knew that the song was about us. It was incredible to be up there performing with Ally. It was something I wanted to do over and over again. I couldn't get enough of it. We must have been pretty good to because the whole party loved us. They couldn't get enough of us either so we had to do an encore and "Break Down the Walls" seemed the most appropriate considering what Ally just did to conquer her fear.

After we were finished Ally and I spoke just off stage. "Austin, that was incredible, I can't believe I did it. I feel like I can do anything now. Thank you so much."

She hugged me and afterwards I responded, "I know you can do anything, we both can, as long as we're together."


	11. An Interview and A Big Surprise

At this point in my career I'm not really sure why I'm still surprised when aspects of my personal life become national news stories, but it happened again. Apparently Dez filmed Ally and I singing together and posted it on my YouTube channel. And once again the internet exploded with rumors about Ally and I. At least this time they weren't all about us dating, just most of them.

Some however were about me dropping my solo career to start singing with Ally full time. While that wasn't completely outrageous, I had a hard time imagining dropping everything else just to sing with Ally. I wanted to do it again sure, but I still like performing alone too.

Anyway the press we got from my birthday video inspire Trish and Jenn to reimagine my tour. They thought it would be awesome to have Ally and I sing a couple duets together during my concerts. I also suggested that maybe we let Ally sing a song or two of her own as well. They loved the idea and decided to start trying to figure out how people would respond to that. They set up an appearance on Leno for us to perform together and maybe drop a hint about her coming on tour with me. They were also looking at setting up a gig in Miami to try out what the format would look like for the two of us to perform together.

It was another major twist in my career, I was about to have not only a writing partner but a singing partner as well and I couldn't be happier about it. I was really excited to see where the team of Austin and Ally could go together. Unfortunately the video of us singing together had some unintended consequences.

For instance, Cassidy seemed to get the impression that there was a lot more between Ally and I than just friendship. She wasn't at all pleased to see that video of us singing together. I kind of had to talk her down on skype she was pretty upset.

"I've told you many times before Cassidy, Ally and I are just friends. I sang with her so that she'd have the courage to perform at all, its something friends do with each other."

She wasn't buying it, "It looked like a lot more than friendship the way you two sang to each other."

"I know it seems that way, but we're just really close friends, we know each other so well its easy to get caught up in a song together, but I promise you're the one I wanna be with. You're the most incredible girl I've ever met and I respect you more than anyone else I've ever met. You know I've gone out of my way to make us work, I wouldn't do that if I wasn't serious about our relationship."

She sighed deeply, "I know, you're right, you've been great to me and you've been great to Brody too, I guess its just hard because I never get to see you. And you and Ally are together all the time, writing music and being friends. I guess I'm just a bit jealous of the time she gets to spend with you, when I'm stuck 3000 miles away from you."

She certainly had a point there, it was hard to get closer to each other when we had an entire continent separating us. "You're right, I need to spend more time with you guys and that'll start this weekend. Trish has us booked on Leno next Monday. I'll clear my weekend and fly out Friday night and spend the weekend with you and Brody. We can do whatever you want."

"That sounds great, Austin, I'm really looking forward to it." We blew each other kisses and hung up, she had to get to work and I had to go practice with Ally. I knew Cassidy had a point and I know it was hard for her to be so far away from me. I had Ally and Dez and Trish to fall back on when Cassidy wasn't around, but I'm pretty sure she felt lonely out there. I needed to do something big to make her realize how important she was to me.

I headed over to Sonic Boom to practice with Ally, but when I got there everybody was caught up with watching the entertainment news and I knew that could only mean that I was the center of attention. I got in closer and I could see that somehow they got ahold of video of me singing to Cassidy in the Melody Diner. I guess some guy in the restaurant pulled out his phone and filmed the whole song, fortunately he turned it off before she rejected me big time. I couldn't believe it though, I was mad that they brought Cassidy into the lime light like this. I didn't want that for her.

I was furious and I'm pretty sure Ally could tell because she grabbed my arm and motioned for the practice room. As we headed up the stairs I heard the news guy ask who the mystery girl was and asked whether I was caught up in some kind of love triangle. I was so furious that as soon as we got to the practice room I kicked over the chair. "I can't believe they're bringing her into this. That's not cool, it's bad enough that I have to deal with it, but she shouldn't have to, she's been through enough."

"Austin, calm down, you had to know the press might find out about her, they've been digging into your life like crazy. She's part of your life and if she's part of your life they were gonna find out about her. You should probably go give her a call she needs to know that this is out there."

"She's at practice I'll wait 'til they finish up. Where's Trish I need to talk to her?" I walked to the door and ripped it open only to find Trish and Dez about ready to knock. "Trish, do I have a lawyer yet?"

"No, we haven't had a need for one yet, why?"

"Hire one, I'm gonna have to threaten to sue anyone who bugs Cassidy for interviews or follows her around to take pictures. I don't want her turned into a tabloid story." That week flew by, Trish hired me a lawyer who outlined exactly how we could sue the press for harassment if they bothered Cassidy in any way. I avoided any questions regarding Cassidy and that video hoping to clear the air on Leno. After the stress of all the press following me around all week I really needed a few days off in LA to relax.

It was a lot of fun to just be able to spend time with Cassidy and Brody. We went to the beach, had some nice meals out and just enjoyed our time together. Jonathan decided it would be a good idea to hire some extra security for the week to help keep our weekend fun private. I really appreciate that he thinks that way, I was glad that I hired him.

The whole gang joined us for a meal Sunday night and got a chance to meet Brody for the first time. He and Dez really hit it off, although I suspect that's mostly because Dez is practically still a two year old himself. It was great to be able to spend time with my best friends and my girlfriend all together. It was a really relaxing weekend, but then on Monday morning we had to get back to reality. Ally and I were going on Leno and I just knew I was gonna have to talk about Cassidy.

The two of us spoke that night about how much she wanted me to say about her. We agreed that I should tell the truth without revealing too many details. I wanted to be open about the fact that I was dating her, but make sure people know that its a private relationship that I wanted to keep private. It was a really good talk and I'm glad we had it. Really the whole weekend was great, I loved spending so much time with Cassidy it was awesome and I had an idea about how to make spending that kind of time with her a more long term prospect. I pulled up Skype and had a talk with Jenn about something and continued the conversation the next morning with Trish. We all agreed and I couldn't wait to share the good news with Cassidy after my interview on Leno.

Speaking of the interview, it was probably one of the more dramatic interview Leno has ever done. Ally and I decided we were gonna sing "You Can Come to Me" on the show because its the song everyone saw us sing together in the video. The performance went great and Ally seemed like someone who had no fear of the stage. I was really proud of her.

"Wow, you two are really fantastic, you sound great together and that song is amazing. I know you say it all the time, but its hard to believe that you two aren't a couple." Jay jumped right into the interview.

"Thanks a lot, Jay, we worked really hard on that song. And we're serious when we say we're just really good friends." I thought I handled it well, but Ally jumped in anyway.

"And we're excited to be getting the opportunity to perform together more often." I realized she just successfully diverted the conversation back to us singing together and away from my love life. Have I mentioned that she's the best?

"That's right you two are performing together in a concert in Miami on St. Patrick's day, isn't that right?"

Ally handled it again, "That's right and if things go well, I might even join Austin on stage for his tour."

"Yeah we figured, we are already writing partners off stage so we might as well be singing partners on stage. It seems like a natural fit."

"Yeah I guess so, and I'm sure everyone would love to see you guys touring together, am I right?" He turned to the audience and they all shouted and cheered at his request. "Now I have to steer the conversation towards a video that came out this last week where you serenaded this other girl. You've been silent about this all week, but I think you wanted to speak up tonight about it, right?"

I took a deep breath, "That's right Jay, the girl in the video is my girlfriend Cassidy. We actually met last time I was out here doing your show and things are going great between us."

"Well that's wonderful, there's a lot of rumors going around about her and about you. One report says that she has a child and other reports speculate that the child is yours, do you wanna clear any of that up?"

"Absolutely, and I appreciate the opportunity to do so. She does have a child, a two year old boy and no he isn't mine, as I said I just met her in December. She made a mistake when she was younger, but she's handled this tough situation with incredible poise. I have the utmost respect for her courage and I'm happy to be apart of her and her son's lives right now."

"That's wonderful, is there anything else you'd like to say about this before we get back to business?"

"Yes, there is. I know I'm a big celebrity and everything, so everything about me seems to be news nowadays, but my relationship with Cassidy is a private personal one and I'd like to keep it that way. I'd like to ask the press to stop trying to bother her or snap pictures of her. Word has mostly gotten around that I've hired a lawyer and am prepared to file harassment lawsuits if anyone bothers her, but I don't wanna have to do that. I'd like to think simply asking people to leave her alone would be enough."

"Well let's hope it is. Now, Austin, this is the second time I've had you on my show, I have to tell you, I am incredibly impressed with your level of maturity and poise through everything you've gone through. I would imagine its pretty stressful to reach this level of fame at the age of 16. Have you always been this mature?"

"No, not really. In fact, before I became famous I was pretty selfish and childish. I think the moment I realized how childish I was being was when I stole Ally's song and the video went viral. I realized then that I didn't want to be famous if it meant stepping all over other people. The fame felt more like a burden to be better than a victory."

"I'd like to think I've had a positive impact on him as well. After all, I'm a great role model." Ally jumped back in to lighten the mood a bit and we all chuckled.

"It's true, she's kind of awesome. Did you know she had debilitating stage fright when we first met? If you'd have asked her to perform here two weeks ago she probably would have crawled under your desk and hidden until the show was over."

"You're kidding me, cause you looked like a regular diva up there just now. How'd you manage to get over your fear?"

"Well I couldn't have done it without the encouragement of my friends, especially Austin. He really gave me the push I needed to put my fears behind me." We kind of smiled at each other and the entire audience and Jay said a long drawn out, "Awwwwwww."

"I hope Cassidy isn't jealous of you two, because you'd make an absolutely adorable couple."

"Everyone says that, but I think we make pretty adorable friends too." After I said that I pulled Ally into a humorous cheek to cheek side hug for the cameras and at that Jay ended our interview and the show.

After the show I went to meet Cassidy at the Melody Diner for lunch before I had to go back to Miami. I met and told her how the interview went and that I had a surprise to tell her about. She perked up in excitement at that.

"Okay, well I really enjoyed spending the weekend with you. I had lots of fun and I was trying to figure out a way that you and I could spend more extended periods of time together."

"Aww, that's sweet I really want that too."

"That's great, that's why I played Jenn Hartley and Trish your band's demo. They loved it and I told them that I thought the band would be a great opening act for my tour. They both agreed and your band manager should be getting a call any minute now about the gig." She seemed a little unsure of how to feel about it. "I saw this going differently, I thought you'd be a little happier."

"I am happy I guess, but I didn't really want our band to get exposure because I know you, I want to earn it, I wish you had talked to me about it."

"Don't worry you did earn it. I didn't mention your name once, just said I had heard a band I really liked and thought they could be a cool opening act. I knew you guys were good enough so I wanted you guys to have the opportunity to shine."

That's when the excitement kicked in, "That's awesome, Austin, I can''t believe our band is going on a national tour to play in front of thousands. And not only that I get to spend all the time on the road with my boyfriend. I can't thank you enough for this Austin."

"Thank yourself, you guys totally deserve this kind of recognition." She hugged me and gave me a big fat kiss on the lips. I didn't really want the kiss to end, but I didn't think the middle of the Melody Diner was the best place to start making out. Oh well, we'd have plenty of time to make out on our three month tour in the summer.


	12. Friends Are the Best

I thought the interview on Leno went great, but there was certainly a backlash and there always seems to be one now that I'm famous. It looks like the fact that I had a girlfriend finally sold the idea that Ally and I are just friends. Unfortunately that didn't stop the fans from thinking that I should be dating Ally. In fact, they were pretty hateful with their comments about Cassidy and even towards Cassidy. Some jerk figured out her twitter handle and started a barrage of hateful tweets toward her. Most of them involved the words "slut" and "whore" and I couldn't believe my fans could be so cruel. I called Cassidy and told her to delete her twitter account immediately. I was furious, I hated that anyone would talk about Cassidy like that. I had to try and end it.

AustinMoon: Anyone who said anything even remotely hurtful to my girlfriend should find new music. I don't want your support.

AustinMoon: If this is how my fans treat the people I love, I might just have to quit music altogether. #notworthit

AustinMoon: I'd sooner give up my career than subject Cassidy to this kind of hate. No one deserves this. #donthate

AustinMoon: Days like today make me wanna just give up.

I posted all of those tweets in the span of about 3 minutes and then I shut my computer down. I didn't want to see the barrage of encouraging tweets. I didn't want to be encouraged. I couldn't stand that my fame left those closest to me open to brutal attack for no real reason. The tweets weren't an exaggeration, I was seriously questioning whether I wanted to continue with my career. It seemed like it always caused problems for the people I loved the most. As much as I loved performing I loved the people in my life that much more. My phone started ringing, it could only be one of two people. And it was Ally. I figured I'd better answer otherwise she'd storm over thinking something was wrong.

"Are you okay, Austin? I just read your tweets, do you want me to come over to let you vent?" I knew Ally well enough to know that she'd probably come over no matter what answer I gave her.

"Sure, Ally come on over."

"I'll be there in 15 minutes."

The second I hung up the phone I got another call, this one was from Cassidy, the other person it could have been. "Austin Monica Moon, don't you even consider quitting just to protect me. If you think this is the first time I've heard people call me names like that, then you are sorely mistaken. I've gone most of my life without your protection, Austin, and I can survive this as well."

"I know you can protect yourself Cassidy, you're the strongest girl I've ever met, but I can't help but think this thing is all my fault. My stupid fame has opened you up to these ridiculous and undeserved insults."

"Austin you can't possibly blame yourself for this, there are jerks in the world, we just have to learn to ignore them because we certainly can't stop them from being jerks."

"I know it just makes me so mad that they would call you those horrible names just because they don't like the fact that we're dating."

"You really don't get it do you Austin? They aren't calling me those things because we're dating. They're calling me those things because I'm 17 and have a kid. And trust me I've had many worse insults thrown at me and those were to my face. I did go to high school while pregnant after all. These twitter dorks are hardly creative."

I couldn't help but smile a bit at that last part, and it did make me feel better that it wasn't totally my fault, though I still felt like I was partially to blame. I thanked Cassidy for her call and we said our goodbyes.

Right as I hung up the phone, Ally burst through my bedroom door talking a mile a minute, "Austin, you seriously can't be blaming yourself for this. I know how much you like Cassidy, but she wouldn't want you to give up your career over this. Those people are just jerks and..."

I interrupted her because I thought it might be the only way to get her to stop talking, "It's okay Ally, you don't have to do this."

It was her turn to interrupt me, "I know I don't have to, but we're friends and I know you'd do it for me."

"No, I mean you don't have to, I just talked with Cassidy and she talked me down. I really appreciate you coming all the way over to help out though, I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Aww, that's what friends are for after all." She leaned over and gave me a big hug. I loved having people in my life like Cassidy and Ally.

"So Ally, how are you feeling about the big concert? I know you have to be a little nervous about singing by yourself."

"Yeah I am, but I know I can do it. I'll just think back to your birthday and us singing together and I know I'll find the courage."

"You have no idea how proud I am of you Ally, you've overcome all your fears and now you're on the verge of living out your dreams."

"Thanks Austin, but there's no way I could do it without you."

At that moment Dez burst through the door, "Okay Austin, I've got a turkey sub, a staple gun, and a freshly baked apple pie, we'll get you through this buddy."

"Thanks a lot Dez, but I'm really okay now. Cassidy and Ally beat you to the punch.

"Oh great, then I guess I won't be needing this pie." At that Dez through the pie out my open window and started eating the turkey sub.

*Author's note, sorry its short, it was supposed to be part of a larger chapter, but it just seemed so complete as is I figured I'd post it.


	13. Good Times and Complications

I guess you could say things in my life were going pretty good. I learned to ignore the stupid twitter hate and things seemed a lot brighter after I did. Cassidy and I were doing great and I was getting out to LA almost every weekend. We were excited for the tour and even more so when we worked out that Brody could come with us. The announcement about the tour hadn't been made public yet, but we were hoping to announce it the following week before the concert. I was in LA Sunday exactly one week before Ally and I's first concert together and I had a special message to deliver to Cassidy.

We had decided to make Ally's and my concert a full on preview concert for the upcoming tour. That meant that Cassidy and her band were going to be joining us at our Miami concert. She was through the roof when I told her and gave her the tickets for her and her band. I loved seeing her happy and it was all the more exciting when I was the one making her happy. I'm not usually one to kiss and tell, but we made out a little bit after I told her; It was a pretty great time in my life.

Not only were things going great between Cassidy and myself, but me and Ally were working together as well as we ever had as well. Ally had really come out of her shell and had started writing songs for herself that were just incredible. She was almost a completely different person now that she had beaten her stage fright. It was the Ally I always saw in the practice room when we were writing songs, but now she believed in herself like I always believed in her. I was incredibly proud of her. The Thursday before the show we were rehearsing together in the practice room.

We had just finished singing "Better Together" and I was pumped, "Ally this concert is gonna be awesome." I took a drink from my water bottle. "I'm so glad we decided to do this. I love singing with you."

"I know, I'm so excited. I can't believe how much I love performing now." She sat down on the couch as she sipped her own water.

"It's certainly a rush. Performing on stage in front of a huge crowd is where I feel the most like myself. I feel like I'm free to show my true self up there and it doesn't matter what anyone thinks. For the time I'm on stage nothing else matters. I'd probably go crazy if I couldn't perform anymore." I was wrapped up in my thoughts as I collapsed on the couch next to Ally.

She was quiet for a little bit and seemed to get really serious. "Are you sure you want me to perform with you on tour Austin?"

I was shocked out of my contemplative stupor, "Absolutely, why wouldn't I?" She certainly had me confused.

"Well, if you love performing so much, why would you want me up there taking up all your time on stage?"

I just grinned at her, "How well do you know me again, Ally?" She smiled a bit, "You can't possibly think I'd be that selfish. Sure I love performing, but so do you, and why wouldn't I let you do what you love?"

"That does sound a lot more like you I guess. But really, Austin, I appreciate you giving me the opportunity you're giving me. You've been so amazing to me Austin, its hard to imagine this whole relationship started with you stealing my song. If you did want more time on stage on tour, just let me know, I wouldn't be here without you."

"Ally, you're being weird today if you think any of that really matters to me. Plus, we both no I wouldn't be here without you either. I can't think of anything more special than getting up on stage and performing with my best friend." I nudged her shoulder and she smiled again. "And for the record, after Sunday, the story isn't that I stole your song, its that I borrowed it. Because Sunday night you're taking the stage and we're singing it together."

"Alright Austin, sounds like a plan, after Sunday you 'borrowed' my song." She totally used air quotes around the word and I was not okay with that.

"Air quotes really Ally, I thought you were better than that."

"You're right I am better than that. So much better than that, that I think I deserve to 'borrow' you're guitar." At that she snatched my guitar and ran out of the practice room.

"Again with the air quotes." I muttered as I jumped up and chased after her. I playfully chased her around Sonic Boom until I caught up with her and pinned her against the counter so I could grab my guitar. "You know Ally, its not nice to borrow someone else's guitar without their permission." I expected a witty comeback about me 'borrowing' her song, but she didn't respond, and the smile she had faded a bit.

I turned around and saw what she did, "Cassidy! What are you doing here? I didn't expect you 'til tomorrow. I'm so glad to see you." I ran over and lifted her up in the air and spun her around. I was on top of the world, and I kissed her as I put her back on the ground.

She hugged me back, "I got off work a couple of days early and decided to surprise you with a visit. I'm so happy to see you too Austin."

"That's so awesome, this is like the best week ever, did the little man come with you too?" I seriously couldn't stop grinning I had my girlfriend and my best friend and partner together with me getting ready to perform at my biggest concert yet. Things seriously couldn't get any better. And I'm pretty sure there was nothing that would ever take me down off this high.

That night I took Cassidy on a romantic tour of Miami. First we watched the sunset at my favorite beach. Then I took her to the nicest restaurant in the city for a delicious meal. "I'm so glad you finally made it to Miami, I've wanted to share the city with you since we first met."

"I'm glad I'm here, too. It's kind of nice to see the great Austin Moon in his natural habitat. It's a beautiful city, and it's even better because I get to share it with you." This may not be how it really happened, but I remember it as if we were in a sappy romance movie holding hands over a candlelit dinner table. It seemed like a perfect moment.

We ate our meal and had desert with only light chit chat. We really were just happy to be in each other's company. After we finished our desert we walked around downtown Miami enjoying the lights and bustle of the streets. We paused and listened to a street musician for a little bit. I took her hand and smiled at her. She smiled back. It was probably one of the greatest nights I'll ever have.

Now I know what you're probably thinking, I've built up how great my life was going so that I could then reveal the horrible turn it was about to take. That's not entirely true this time, but there was a bit of a hiccup the next morning.

We were having a Team Austin meeting first thing that next morning and Trish told me to make sure Cassidy was there too. I wasn't sure what was going on, but I wasn't gonna turn my nose up at a few more minutes with Cassidy.

"Okay I've called this meeting because we have some business to take care of before the concert on Sunday. I just spoke with Jenn and she thinks its time we announce the full lineup for your tour."

"That's awesome I can't wait to see how excited people are gonna be about Ally and I touring together and I really want people to get excited about Cassidy and her band too." I couldn't wait to unleash the Austin and Ally tour on the world.

"I can't wait either that's why I think we should get all three of you on the Weekend Today Show to make the announcement." Trish kind of cringed when she said it because she knew I was pretty adamant about keeping Cassidy away from the press.

I jumped right in, "No way, I don't want to subject Cassidy to that kind of exposure on my behalf, out of the question." I was about to keep talking, but Cassidy stopped me.

"Austin, you've been really awesome about keeping me and Brody away from the press, but this interview isn't about you and me as a couple. It's about me and my band coming on tour to open for you. This is the kind of exposure I need to see. It will only help my band."

"But Cassidy, you know they'll try and get you to talk about us, the press never stick to the topic at hand. I just don't want you to get hurt."

I gave her a pouty face and she smiled at me and kissed my nose, "You're sweet, but I'm ready to handle anything they can throw at me. I can handle myself, as much as I appreciate your protection, I don't need it this time."

"See Austin, even Cassidy thinks its a good idea. You three will do great and it will be great press for the tour." Trish was really getting good at this whole manager thing, she knew how to sell me on things.

"Alright we'll do it, what's it gonna entail?"

"Well the plan is to do the interview tonight here in Miami and then they'll play it tomorrow morning as a segment on the show. Essentially they're gonna let you make your announcement and then ask a few questions about the tour. It should be pretty painless."

"Let's just hope it is, at least the interview won't be live, they can't ambush us with some crazy rumor."

That's when Trish cringed again, "Yeah, about that, they also wanted you and Ally to perform in front of a crowd and then they'd do the interview on stage afterwards. You're performing tonight at the mall. Did I not mention that?"

Cassidy and Ally had to hold me back, because I was mad at Trish, why'd she have to agree to do the interview live after an impromptu concert. Oh well, I figured I'd just have to deal with her mistake.

The performance went great and the crowd loved it. Then our interviewer came out, it was some female news lady and at this point they all start to look alike after a while. I hoped things would go smoothly with the interview. I have to admit I love interviews when there isn't any drama involved. I've learned I can charm the pants off anyone when I want to.

"Austin, Ally, you guys were great up there, and it looks like you've been joined by somebody else tonight, who's this?"

"This is my girlfriend, Cassidy, but more importantly she's also the lead singer of an awesome band that you guys will be hearing a whole lot more about."

"Oh, you're girlfriend huh? Finally the lady from behind the curtain reveals herself."

"Yep this is her, but that's not why we're here talking to you today and you know that." I gave her a mischievous grin like I caught her trying to pull one over on me.

"When you're right, you're right. But why are you guys here?"

"I mostly just wanted to show off these two beautiful ladies." Everyone laughed, "And for all you guys out there, this one's single." I pointed to Ally and got an even bigger laugh and a few cat calls from the crowd.

"You hear that, guys, Ally Dawson could be yours. But really Austin, what's up? Why'd you drag me down to Miami?"

"Well, as most of your viewers know Ally and I are doing a special St. Patrick's Day concert together. The first thing they probably don't know is that Cassidy's band is going to be opening for us."

"That's great, but you said the first thing we don't know is that, I want the deets. What else does Team Austin have cooking?"

Ally puts her hand on mine to keep from answering all the questions. "I'll handle this one Austin, you just sit back and look pretty or something." I gave her a weird look because it seemed so un-Ally-like, but the crowd ate it up. "Well I guess the short version of the story is that the show we're putting on Sunday is an all out preview of Austin's tour this summer."

"Wait, this is some kind of tour announcement! Boy this is a big deal! What do you mean by it being a preview?"

"Well, Austin and I are performing some together and Cassidy and her band will be the opening act on the first ever Austin and Ally tour."

"That's incredible so if your fans around here were lucky enough to get tickets, they're getting the whole tour experience. That's awesome! Cassidy, what do you think about your awesome boyfriend getting you a spot on his tour?"

"He's amazing, I'm so grateful that he was able to give us a chance to show what we can do on a big stage." She hugged my arm and I kissed her head.

"Aww isn't that adorable."

I had to jump back in, "You should know though that Cassidy and her band were accepted onto the tour by their own merit. It's just an awesome bonus that she's also my girlfriend." I kissed her again this time right on the cheek.

"Isn't he sweet? So Cassidy how do you feel about Austin and Ally performing so much together, especially with all those crazy Auslly rumors that are still floating around. Does it make you jealous?"

This lady was starting to push my buttons and I was about to start showing how mad I was, but Cassidy just gripped my arm tighter and spoke up. "Austin and Ally are good friends and partners, why should I be jealous of that? Plus, they sound awesome together. How am I to deprive the world of such beautiful music?"

I was impressed, she handled that awkward question incredibly well. We wrapped the interview up shortly after that question and we all headed home to get some rest before tomorrow's busy day of rehearsals. The rehearsals went great, Cassidy's band is even better in person and we were too busy to even watch our interview.

We finished rehearsal for the night and were all enjoying a big meal together. When Dez freaked out over his computer for no apparent reason.

"What's up, Dez?"

"You're not gonna like it, but I just watched the segment about the tour on the Weekend Today Show."

I rolled my eyes I didn't even wanna know what they had to say about us. Probably just turned it into yet another massive rumor of some kind, but I went and looked anyway. Sure enough they somehow managed to spend most of the rest of the segment talking in studio about how my tour was really just one giant love triangle. They showed this clip from the interview of right after Cassidy answers the question about Ally and I and kept freezing it on a look she gives in Ally's direction. They call it a glare, I'm just assuming it was a look of disgust over the stupid question.

Regardless it had me in a bit of a foul mood, but I was learning to let these stupid rumors roll off my back more so I didn't want it to show. Instead I just decided I was gonna call it a night. I offered to take Cassidy back to her hotel to say goodnight. When we got to her room we stopped in the hallway.

"I'm sorry about that interview, that's why I didn't want to do the interview. I knew they'd pull something like this. They always mange to manufacture some kind of crazy story." Cassidy got really quiet and I could tell something was eating her up. "What's wrong?"

She took a deep breath, "Austin, this story wasn't completely manufactured."

I had a hard time believing her, "What do you mean? You're jealous of Ally?"

"Yeah I am, a little bit."

"Come on, Cassidy, there's absolutely nothing to be jealous about, Ally and I are just friends."

"I know you are Austin, but she's still a huge part of your life. Its hard not to feel a little jealous when another girl takes up so much of your heart."

"What can I do to make you feel better about it?"

"I don't know, I guess it might just take some time to get used to, I guess is all I'm saying. You two are really close and I just rarely get to see to both together. It's been a little weird this week. You know what, I'm sorry I brought it up, I'm sure with time I'll get over it. We both need to get some sleep and focus on the concert tomorrow." She kissed me and then stepped inside. Why did life have to go and get so complicated just when things were looking up?


	14. The Almost Break Up

I couldn't sleep at all that night, I can't believe Cassidy would be jealous of Ally. We've talked about mine and Ally's friendship multiple times. She always seemed okay with it before. I wasn't gonna be able to focus at all until I could talk to Cassidy about this mess. I guess she told me not to worry about it, but how am I not supposed to worry about it once she tells me.

I couldn't think straight or get to sleep so I went down to look for a midnight snack. I pulled out the lucky charms and started picking out all the marshmallows. I was trying to figure out what Cassidy expected of me. I mean I know Ally and I are close, but that doesn't mean I can't be close with Cassidy too. Did she want me to spend less time with Ally? That just seems unfair if it's true. Or maybe that interview lady had it right the whole time, maybe Cassidy didn't like how we connected on stage. As I sat there and ate the Lucky Charms marshmallows and pondered my predicament my dad wandered downstairs for a cup of water.

"Uh oh, you're eating the marshmallows out of the Lucky Charms box, what's wrong." Now I realize I haven't mentioned much about my parents in this little journal of events so far, but that's mostly because they haven't really been major players in my career. They've certainly been a part of all the big decisions, but for the most part they have trusted me to make the right decisions on my own and I've definitely appreciated that.

"Is this really what I do when I have a problem?"

"Oh yeah, ever since you were a kid you'd pout over a box of Lucky Charms picking out all the good stuff. So what's wrong? You're not nervous about the concert right? So then it must be girl trouble. Having issues with Cassidy?" My dad's a pretty perceptive guy all in all.

"Good guess, yeah she kind of dropped a bombshell on me tonight and didn't really explain herself. It's kind of messing with my head not knowing what she meant by it all."

My dad poured himself a glass of water and took a seat next to me at the counter. "What was the bombshell?" I proceeded to tell him the whole conversation and how I felt about it all. "Well that's some pretty tough stuff. Personally, I'd take Cassidy's advice and just forget she said anything. She seems to think it might just be something she has to warm up to. No need to ruin relationships over that kind of issue."

"I'm not sure I can forget about it. Obviously something she saw Ally and I do seemed to make her jealous. Until I figure out what that something is, all I'm gonna be thinking about is not doing whatever it was that made her jealous."

"Son if there's one thing I've learned in this life, its that you can't live it worrying about things you can't control. At the moment you can't control how Cassidy feels about you and Ally. So just forget about it and move on."

"I guess you're right day, I'll have to give that a try." I didn't sound very enthused because I didn't think there was much of a chance of me forgetting about it.

"That's all you can do." He leaned over can gave me a quick half hug. "Now its very late, and you've got a big day ahead of yourself, why don't you go back upstairs and try to get some sleep." I looked at the clock and saw that it was two in the morning and new that I needed to be up in just five hours. I made my way upstairs and collapsed on the bed, my thoughts still racing about my complicated love life. But before I knew it I was groaning at the sound of my alarm going off.

I knew it was gonna be a busy day but I really wanted to try and get a chance to talk to Cassidy a little bit. Unfortunately Trish has set up interviews with major publications for Ally and I most of the morning. We went from one interview to the next talking about the tour and our newfound on stage partnership. I really struggled with trying to act the same around Ally. I guess before today I had never really had to think about how to respond to her, it just came naturally. But after last night, I was over thinking everything, worried that I might make Cassidy jealous if I said one thing or did another thing. It made for some awkward moments.

"So, I can't let you get out of here without talking about the hottest rumor in the business. You two have always denied having feelings for each other, but with yesterday's rumor of a love triangle, we have to wonder if anything has changed?" This was a reporter from TMZ trying to get that exclusive scoop.

And this is the question where I kind of lost my cool factor, "Nope, still no feelings between us. Absolutely none, never has been. Just good friends and partners is all we are. Ally's pretty cool I guess, but I only have eyes for Cassidy at the moment."

Ally gave me a really weird look at how nervous I got with that question and then answered herself. "Yeah, were not sure where that rumor came from. Austin and I are just best friends and partners. Anything you've heard about beyond that are just internet rumors."

I couldn't believe what had been going on all day in the interviews. I mean since when had Ally become the calm, cool, and collected one. The one that could charm every interviewer with her awesome answers. Man that thing with Cassidy really messed with my head. We were in a car headed back to the arena so that we could do mic checks and finalize the wardrobe and everything. The entire ride there I knew I just had to talk to Cassidy.

But when we finally got back in the same building we kept getting pulled in very different directions. I was getting frustrated that I couldn't talk to her and I think Ally noticed. She cornered me in the wardrobe room after we finished getting fitted for the evening. "Austin, what's going on? You've been acting really weird all day. And it feels like you've been trying to avoid me. Did I do something wrong?"

As much as I didn't wanna mess stuff up with Cassidy, I also didn't want Ally to think that this was all her fault, "No, Ally its nothing you did. It's something Cassidy said last night that's really been bothering me. She told me that she was a little bit jealous of you and I."

Ally paused, "Oh."

"You don't sound quite as shocked as I was?"

"Well no, I guess you could say I don't blame her. She'd never spent significant time around the both of us before this week. It was probably hard for her to see you getting along so well with another girl. We do have an extremely close relationship for a couple of totally platonic friends."

"That's pretty much what she said too, but I've been thinking all day about ways to make her feel more comfortable with our relationship. That's why I've been acting weird around you all day. I've been over thinking things and have been afraid to do anything that might make Cassidy jealous. I'm sorry." I gave Ally a big hug as an apology and as I did, Cassidy opened the door and saw it. She muttered an apology and left.

I was in shock a little bit, and Ally spoke to try and lighten the mood, "Well I guess your plan to not make her jealous didn't work." I rushed out the door to try to catch up with her. I caught her in the hallway and gave her a big hug. The time for her band to go on was getting closer and closer. I was worried we wouldn't get another chance to talk so I opened my mouth to give her an apology, but before I could she spoke.

"Austin, don't say anything. I've thought about us nonstop since last night and I came to a decision. I'm not sure I'm in a place where I can share you with another girl and I know you're not in a place where you can figure out how to make this work without losing either Ally or me. There's a month and a half until your tour starts Austin, and I go back to LA tomorrow." She started crying a little bit, "Maybe its best if we don't see each other until the tour. Take a break so we can figure out if we can make this relationship work and then revisit it, once we see each other again in May."

It was my turn to start tearing up a little, "Cassidy, we can make this work. Just tell me what you want me to do. Do you want me to stop spending so much time with Ally? Cause I will."

"No, I don't want that, and you wouldn't do it anyway, I'm not sure that you could if you tried. I've made my decision. Let's just take some time off from each other." I was speechless I couldn't believe that just happened. I couldn't find words to say what I wanted to, which was fine because she got pulled away to get ready to go on stage. The concert was about to start.

After I got into my first outfit of the night I went backstage to the area I was supposed to wait for my entrance and I watched Cassidy perform. She was an incredible singer and a great front man for her band. Ally came up behind me quietly, "Austin, is everything okay."

I sniffed a bit, "Not really, Cassidy decided that we should take a break from each other until the tour."

"I'm sorry Austin," Ally hugged me from the side and put her head on my shoulder, it felt great, but I couldn't help but think that it was because of moments like these that Cassidy was jealous, so I shrugged Ally off. We stood in silence next to each other until it was time for me to get up on the stage. I made my big entrance and rocked the house with "Heard it On the Radio" and "A Billion Hits."

Usually getting out on stage and performing made me feel a whole lot better about what was going on in my life but not this time. I introduced Ally for her first solo performance and ran back to get changed for the next set that included my duet with Ally on "Double Take." I hit my changing room and Dez and Trish were in there. I went straight to the corner where there was some privacy to change.

"So Austin, what's wrong?" Dez asked first. I stayed silent. This time Trish spoke up.

"You know we're gonna find out anyway, you might as well just tell us now."

I sighed and responded, "Cassidy was jealous of my closeness with Ally and decided that we should take a break from our relationship until see each other again on the tour."

"Oh," they both said in unison.

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" I was a little mad that apparently I'm the only one that found this whole thing surprising.

"Well, it's not that shocking if you think about it," Trish said.

"Yeah, I mean we all know you're madly in love Ally, so why would it be," Dez dropped this little bombshell.

"Woah, woah, woah. I am not madly in lov..." I started but couldn't finish because of Trish.

"Oh, it's okay Austin, Ally's madly in love with you too," Trish said as if that should be reassuring.

"Yeah, and it's kind of crazy that you and Ally are like the only two people in the world who haven't figured that out yet." I couldn't believe that even two of my best friends thought I was in love with Ally. I mean I wasn't was I? No, that's crazy and I'm sure there wrong about Ally loving me too. We're just friends. But is that really what people thought about us? No wonder Cassidy felt so jealous, if even the people that knew us best thought we were in love with each other, of course she would too. Before I could really process everything there was a knock on the door signaling me that it was almost time for me to get back out there.

The rest of the concert went great Ally killed it both with her solos and the duets and the crowd loved us. I still had a hard time believing that my name sold out and entire arena for a concert. Not even a year into my career and I'm selling out whole arenas.

The next couple of weeks were a little rough, I was keeping Ally at arms length. In some part of my mind I guess I was blaming her for the issues Cassidy and I had. It was kind of awkward between us and we spent very little time together for those two weeks. Dez and Trish noticed too and it made things awkward for them as well. That's why Trish concocted a plan to try and get us back to the way we were.

First Dez approached me in the food court about it, "Don't you think its about time you stopped blaming Ally for your break up?"

"We're not broken up, we're just on a break and I don't blame Ally."

"See you're not broken up, even less to blame Ally for. And come on man, of course you're blaming Ally, things have been downright chilly around here since the concert," he shivered when he said that just to sell his point. I kind of shrugged off his advice, of course he was right, but I didn't think I was ready to move past it.

The next day Trish came to me while I was hanging out at Sonic Boom with some big news. She was super excited and told me that Jenn and her both thought it would be a great idea if I was the one to break the news to Ally. "The news about what?" I asked.

Trish couldn't hold it in anymore, "The news about Ally's record deal!"

"What! That's incredible, how'd that happen?"

"Well the buzz from the show was great, and people really loved Ally as a solo artist too. So... Jenn decided she wanted to sign Ally too, before someone else got a chance. She wants Ally to work on her own solo album as soon as the tour is finished."

"That's amazing, Ally's gonna hit the roof when she hears about it." I was so happy for Ally and I realized then and there that Dez was right and I had to stop blaming her for what happened with Cassidy. I made up my mind, "I can't wait to break the news to her and I know just how to do it." At that I was out the door before Trish could catch me and tell me that Ally was just upstairs in the practice room. I knew that anyway, I just had to make a couple quick stops somewhere before I broke the news to her.

It didn't take long though and soon I was knocking on the practice room door. "Come in," came Ally's response and I walked in. "Hey Austin, what's up?" Her voice revealed a bit of apprehension, she felt the tension in our relationship as much as anybody.

"I got you something," I said as I revealed the small bouquet of daisies that I had gotten her. Her face lit up and she smiled at me as I continued, "I'm sorry for pushing you away these past couple of weeks." I sat down next to her on the piano bench, "I've been blaming you for what happened between Cassidy and I and its just not fair to you. I've missed you Ally, and I'm sorry."

"I've missed you too Austin." She hugged me and I pulled her in tight.

"The flowers aren't the only thing I got you either."

She pulled away and looked at me a little shocked, "The flowers are enough of an apology, you didn't run over my dog or anything."

I pulled out the small box I had in my pocket, "Oh this isn't part of the apology this is something completely different."

She opened the small box only to find a small silver pen charm with a red ruby tip for her charm bracelet, "Austin, it's beautiful, but what's this for?"

I smiled at her, "Well I got you the golden microphone to commemorate your first performance. This little pen commemorates the signing of your first record deal."

Her eyes lit up even more when she realized what that meant and then she lunged at me to pull me into another hug, "Are you serious Austin? That's incredible!"

I hugged her back again, "Yeah, Trish just told me today, after your success at the concert, Jenn Hartley decided to make you her second artist ever." She broke the hug after a couple of minutes and then decided that we need to find Trish and Dez so that we could all celebrate together. I was just happy that things were back to normal between Ally and I.


	15. An End and Maybe a Beginning

So I know what you all must be thinking, why would I want things to just go back to normal with Ally and I. After all It was supposed to be obvious that we loved each other, why wouldn't I confess my undying love for her? Well first of all, I didn't love her, sure I had some strong feelings for her, but they were mostly platonic. Secondly I had no clue if she really liked me in that way at all. Sure Trish and Dez thought so, but that didn't mean it was true. And thirdly Cassidy and I technically hadn't broken up. We just wanted to take some time away from each other to figure out how things were gonna work from then on. So I couldn't exactly start dating someone else, now could I?

Regardless the tour was about to start and I was hardly gonna have time with a brand new relationship, I was barely gonna have time to figure out the relationship I already had. I was really excited that we were gonna be able to start our tour in home town of Miami. It also meant I was gonna be able to have the conversation with Cassidy in familiar territory.

The problem with the Cassidy conversation is that I still had no idea what I was gonna say. I mean I really like Cassidy and I've loved being with her, but I'm not sure if I'd be willing to change my friendship with Ally. That friendship is really important to me and I think I'd rather give up my relationship with Cassidy than my closeness with Ally. Ideally I could have both things, but after my last talk with Cassidy that seemed unlikely. I'm kind of hoping our time apart will have given Cassidy a chance to change her mind.

The day before the tour was supposed to start Cassidy and her band got to town. I texted Cassidy as soon as I knew that they had landed.

Austin: Hey Cassidy, welcome back to Miami, wanna get together for coffee or something

She responded a few minutes letter.

Cassidy: Sure Austin, and thanks. Give me an hour to get settled in at the hotel first.

That was it then, she gave me no clue about what I should expect at our meeting. She simply told me to meet her in an hour. One hour from that moment, I'd be learning whether I have a girlfriend or not.

Austin: I'll wait for you in the lobby

The first concert was the second Friday in May and her band flew in Thursday morning. I was glad she wanted to meet me as soon as possible, because I didn't want to take this tension with me on tour. I was starting to regret asking her band to join us on tour, because if things didn't work out it could make the tour very unpleasant. I guess I just thought Cassidy and I would last longer. And really as much as the thoughts of regret hit me, I was really happy that I was able to give her and her band a chance to show what they could really do. They rocked it at the preview concert and I knew my fans would love them, all across the country. I guess I just wanted Cassidy to be happy, I was glad I could be a big part of her life for a while, but if she didn't want to be together anymore than so be it, I don't want to stand in her way.

I showed up at her hotel on time, but she didn't make it down for another 20 minutes. I figured things just took a bit longer than she originally thought they would. Then I saw her walk through the lobby and realized I had totally forgotten how much I missed her. As she got closer I couldn't help but wonder how I should greet her. We hadn't spoken for close to two months, do I hug her, kiss her, maybe I should just shake her hand. I didn't know, I was getting all awkward and weird about it. I didn't like that because our relationship had never been like that before. Either way I had to make up my mind because she had almost reached me.

I went for a big friendly hug, "Great to see you, Cassidy, I've missed you."

She smiled at me as we pulled away from the hug, "I missed you too, Austin. How have you been?"

"I've been great, I spoke with the tutor and it looks like I might be able to graduate early if I keep working hard now."

"That's awesome, Austin, I wish I had gotten the chance to graduate."

I grabbed her hand and smiled at her, "Well it's never too late, you could always finish school or get your GED or something." She smiled and nodded at me before we both got quiet for a few minutes. I could neither one of us wanted to be the one to start the conversation. It was only in our silence that I realized I invited her to get some coffee. "So Cassidy, wanna head out and get that coffee I promised ya?"

She smiled, "I'd like that Austin." We decided to walk to the coffee shop down the street on the corner. As we walked I asked her about work and about Brody. She told me Brody was the reason she was late coming down, she couldn't get him down for his nap, and she left one of her bandmates there to keep an eye on him.

"I'm glad your band is willing to help out with Brody."

"Yeah, they're really good with him, they've been really supportive of me bringing him on tour." We got to the coffee shop, ordered, and sat down with our drinks. The silence returned, we knew there was only so much we could do to delay the inevitable. I finally caved and spoke up first.

"I want you to know Cassidy, that I understand where you were coming from with your jealousy. I didn't at first, but I do now."

"That's good, I'm sorry I left without really saying anything else, it was just hard on me."

It got quiet for a second again until I decided I better just throw it all out there and see what she has to say. "Cassidy, I really like you and I'd love to continue from where we left off, but I want you to be happy and if you think its not gonna work out, then I'll gladly welcome you back into my life, but as a friend this time."

She looked up at me and I could see the slightest tear start to fall down her cheek, "Thanks Austin, you're an amazing guy and you've always been really sweet to me. But I don't think it's gonna work out. You care about Ally in ways I don't understand, and whether or not you have any romantic feelings for her at all, there's not enough room in your heart for both her and me. I'd never ask you to pick one of us so I think it's just best if we call it quits. I'd love to stay your friend?"

It was my turn to shed a tear, "I understand Cassidy, and I appreciate you not asking me to pick. I'd love to be your friend, I can't imagine my life without you in it in some way."

She smiled and gave me a hug, "I'm not sure either of us has a choice anyway, I don't think Brody would let you get away for too long, you certainly made an impression."

"That's awesome I love that little guy. I can't wait to hang out with him while we're on tour." We chatted for a little while longer about some more light-hearted stuff, and it felt great to be able to just be friends after all we'd been through. I couldn't help myself and had to get back into the awkward stuff. "You know, Trish and Dez told me that they think Ally and I are in love with each other. I knew it wasn't true but the fact that they thought so made me realize how it must look to you. Is that what you thought about us too? And you can tell me if it's too soon to be talking about this kind of thing."

She got serious, "Austin, I can't pretend to know all your feelings, but you probably care more for Ally then you ever did for me. I don't think you realize just how much of your life you share with her. I'm not sure if you're in love with each other, but I think you're gonna have a hard time falling completely for any other girl."

That was a pretty weighty statement, I couldn't believe how people thought of Ally and I. Well I guess it made sense, we'd did spend lots of time together and we shared some of the most important and personal aspects of our lives with each other and I guess we did seem to have a comfortable intimacy in our friendship. And that line of thought is what made me realize how much I loved Ally. Sure I had always admitted to loving her as a friend, we shared everything with each other and were always there for each other when we needed help the most. But I guess I never considered how much I loved each moment we spent together, or her smile, or the way our hands would touch when we're writing a song on the piano.

The entire trip back from Cassidy's hotel I was elated with the idea of being in love with Ally. I couldn't believe I had never realized it before. I made up my mind that I was gonna tell Ally how I felt as soon as I got back to Sonic Boom. I wanted to be with her for the rest of my life and I felt like nothing could change my mind. I couldn't wait to just go in and romantically declare my love for her. It seemed like an awesome idea and I was incredibly excited.

When I burst through the door at Sonic Boom, I was a bit shocked to see Dez behind the counter instead of Ally. "Hey, Dez, what's going on? Where's Ally?"

"She had to run to an appointment or something, she left me in charge."

"Wait she left you in charge? That doesn't seem like a good idea."

"I know! That's what I told her, but she said she needed my help and told me to try and not break anything."

"How'd that go? Great, other than the violin I sat on. Why were you in such a hurry to see Ally anyway? Weren't just hanging out with Cassidy? How did that go?" Dez put his head on his and leaned on the counter in anticipation of an interesting story or something.

"Well to make a long story short," I took a deep breath and decided to speak really quickly just to get it all out there, "Cassidy just wants to be friends and she said some stuff that made me realize how much I really love Ally and I came here to confess my undying love for her." Dez's mouth dropped wide open and he was speechless, and then from behind me I heard a loud scream.

"What!" It was Trish apparently she walked in while I was saying that. I went red in the face when I saw she was there. It sounds crazy now that I actually said it all out loud, I was starting to second guess myself almost immediately. "Are you serious, Austin? Because it's about time, I can't wait til you guys actually get together."

"Well I still don't know what Ally's going to say, and I'm not sure anymore if I wanna tell her, it could totally ruin our relationship and that would suck especially right before the tour like this."

"Are you kidding, Austin, of course Ally loves you too, it's so obvious. You two were born to be together and you just have to tell her." Something you should know about Dez is that he is a fanatic for romance.

"Yeah, Austin, take it from Ally's best friend, you should definitely tell, I know she's got feelings for you too. You have to take a chance sometimes."

"I know I need to tell her at some point, but maybe it's better if I wait til after the tour."

"Why wait Austin? Love waits for no one." Dez had this dreamy look in his eyes.

"As creepy as it is coming from Dez's mouth, he's right, you've gotta act, who knows what might happen on tour, you don't wanna miss your chance." I know they both had a point but the thought of losing Ally as a friend and possibly ruining my big tour kind of outweighed my desire to tell Ally how much I loved her. At least with Ally being gone I had some time to think on it. And of course as soon as I thought that, Ally walked in.

"Hey guys, great you're all here, Dez, Austin, I'd love to introduce you too, my mother!" Oh great and now I had to meet her mom with these thoughts going through my head.

"Hey kids, nice to meet you, and good to see you again Trish." Well at least she seemed like a nice enough lady, I was still nervous though.

"Hi Mrs. Dawson, I'm Austin and I'm Ally's boyfriend, I mean best friend," I can't believe I screwed that up my face went bright red and I froze for a second, "Well we're partners."

"Oh come one, Austin, I've been in Africa, not living under a rock, of course I know about you and Ally being partners. You guys are world famous now. I want to thank you for helping bring my little Allycat out of her shell."

"I didn't do anything, but encourage her, she had it in her all along."

"Aww, aren't you just the sweetest thing, too bad you're taken otherwise I'd say you'd be perfect for Ally." I went red in the face again and Ally muttered something under her breath to her mom. Then Ally spoke up.

"Didn't you go talk to Cassidy today? How's that go?"

I got red again and I could feel Dez and Trish get all gooey-eyed behind me, "It went fine, I guess, maybe we should talk about it somewhere a little more private." She nodded cautiously but agreed and we went upstairs to the practice room.

"So why'd we have to talk about this privately, it's your love life, it'll probably be on the front page by tomorrow." She laughed at her own joke and I gave her a look that told her I wasn't amused.

"Well actually we talked a lot about you. Cassidy didn't think I had enough room in my heart for both you and her."

Ally looked a little worried now, "Did she ask you to spend less time with me or to give up our friendship or something?"

I gave her a reassuring look, "Of course not, she's to cool for that, but she did tell me it was over."

Ally moved closer to me on the couch that we shared and hugged me, "Aww, I'm sorry, are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, we ended things are really good terms."

"That's awesome I really like her, and now we can all be friends."

"Yeah, well Cassidy seemed to think that you and I might want to be more than friends." I put that statement out there to kind of test the waters and see where Ally was at.

"What? You and me? That's crazy, we're just friends. Like really good friends. I have no idea what she's thinking. How many times do we have to tell people that we're just friends. Dating, pfft, how crazy right? I mean that would be kind of weird wouldn't it?" She started out rambling trying to play the whole thing off, but that last question seemed a bit more genuine, like she was testing the waters with me.

"Yeah crazy, I mean, we're partners and good friends getting ready to start a nationwide tour together. Why would we ever complicate things or risk losing all that?"

"I know, she must think we're stupid or something. We can't risk our careers and our friendship by dating each other that's just silly." We both stopped our excuses and looked at each other. It was at that moment that I think we both realized we loved each other.


	16. It's Finally Happening

The following day was the first concert of our tour, for most of the morning I was trying to avoid being alone with either Dez or Trish. They were both kind of mad that I hadn't told Ally that I loved her. Apparently Ally and I getting together had become their mission for the tour or something. Regardless, I figured it would be best to avoid either one of them for a while. I was okay with that though, it meant I was "forced" to spend a lot of time with Ally.

We actually had a decent amount of free time during the day before the concert that night. Trish had done an incredible job organizing the tour and it showed. Every department had a capable supervisor and Trish worked hard to make sure that everything got done on time and correctly. So fortunately for me Trish was probably gonna be busy for most of the day.

And I decided to make Dez the official backstage documentarian. Essentially I figured I'd have him film a bunch of behind the scenes stuff from the tour and post updates online for the fans. The more I talked with him about the job the more it morphed into him being the official social media czar for the tour. He made me use the word czar in his title, but I don't blame him, I wish I was the czar of something.

While those two were off doing there thing Ally and I hung out in my dressing room rehearsing and writing music. After our conversation the day before I was almost positive that Ally liked me, and I'm pretty sure she knew I liked her too, but it seemed like not saying it out loud kept us from being to awkward together. We were just being the good buddies we always had been.

"Can you believe this is happening, Ally? We've both got record deals and now were going on a nationwide tour together." I said while lying upside down on the couch with my guitar in my hands.

"I know Austin, a year ago I never would have imagined I'd be here. I was just the awkward shy girl afraid to perform in front of anybody. I never would have made it this far without you, Austin." She looked back at me while she sat at the piano.

I sat up a little bit when she said that, "Are you kidding me, Ally? Do you really think I would have made it without you? Without your songs, I'm just another pretty face with some sweet dance moves. Not only that, Ally, you keep me grounded, without you I don't even wanna know what the fame would have done to me. I'd probably be a selfish jerk and have left my friends behind long ago."

"Austin, you just aren't that kind of person. You're way too sweet to do something like that. And you know what I think I just had an awesome idea for a song we could sing together." Ally started playing some notes on the piano, I joined in with my guitar and she started singing some lyrics for the chorus.

There's no way I can make it without you

Do it without you

Be here without you

I joined in with a few lines of my own.

It's no fun when you're doing it solo

With you it's like woah

Yeah and I know

I, own this dream

Cause I've got you with me

Ally started again and then I joined in as I set next to her on the piano bench.

There's no way I can make it without you

Do it without you

Be here without you

We stopped singing and started laughing together, "Ally that song already rocks, you just made it up on the spot."

"We made it up on the spot Austin, you're getting good at this songwriting thing. I might have worked my way out of a job by teaching you how to write music."

"Maybe, but you've got your own career now. But you can always write songs for me if you want to, I love your songs."

"Thanks Austin, that's sweet." We hugged each other softly and then from the closet we both heard a loud "Awwwwwww." It was Dez apparently he'd been hiding in the closet.

"Dez get out of there, why were you hiding?" I had to ask the question, even if I was a little scared of the answer.

"I've been in there for hours, you told me to document the real behind the scenes story, of the Austin and Ally tour. I figured the best way to get a genuine moment on film is if you guys didn't know I was here."

"That's a little creepy, Dez. I can't imagine that would work very well either." Ally said dryly.

Dez was excited, "Are you kidding me? Of course it worked, I just got you and Austin writing a song together. Not only does it have that adorable factor for all the Auslly fans out there, but it also gave them an inside look at how your partnership works. I'm a directing genius." He put his hands on his hips and posed for the invisible cameras.

"Alright mister genius, we've had enough of your creepy stalking. Maybe you should find a new target, like Trish, I'm sure the demanding job of tour manager would be pretty interesting to the fans." I nodded really obviously hoping Ally would get the hint to play along.

He was almost giddy about this whole behind the scenes stuff, "You think?"

"Absolutely!" She totally got the hint.

"Awesome, I better go find a good hiding spot." At that Dez was out the door.

"I think he's getting weirder." All I could do was nod and agree with Ally.

"Hey, Ally, I'm getting hungry, want me to go get us something from the buffet table and then we can work some more on this awesome song."

"That sounds great Austin, I'll keep working on the melody."

I wandered out into the hustle and bustle of the backstage preparations for my concert. It was still weird to think about the fact that all the stuff that was going on, was for me. I didn't really care that much at the moment though I was having too much fun hanging out and writing music with Ally. I made it all the way to the food table without being interrupted. But as soon as I stuffed a roll in my mouth so I had a hand free to grab a second plate for Ally, Trish jumped me.

"Austin! Why didn't you tell her?" She scared me so I bit down hard on the roll until it fell out of my mouth and hit the floor.

"Hello to you too, Trish," I said as I finished chewing the bite of roll I had taken.

"Seriously, Austin, I thought you were gonna tell her last night. What happened?"

"I don't know I was going to, but I kind of hinted toward it and she kept backing away from the idea. It really seemed like she didn't want me to say it. I guess I just lost my nerve."

"Oh come on, it's obvious she likes you too, why wouldn't she want you to tell her."

"I don't know maybe she thinks it could totally screw up our tour, and by the way it could totally screw up our tour. Or maybe she really doesn't like me and we're all misreading this. Or maybe she thinks it would be weird if I told her so soon after breaking up with Cassidy. I mean how would Cassidy feel if I told some other girl I loved her the same day we broke up. Ally wouldn't want me to do that to Cassidy."

Trish was about to say something, but before she could, Dez jumped out from under the food table with his camera, "There it is, that's what I call real world drama right there. You're fans are gonna love this." He said that last part in a sing-songy voice.

"Dez! I can't believe you were filming that, you can't post that online, it's way too personal."

Dez got really pouty and threw a bit of a tantrum, "Aww, but I'm a directing genius?"

"Seriously Dez, you know you can't post that, I have to tell Ally myself she can't see it on the internet, or more likely the News before I tell her."

"Awww man." Dez seemed a little disappointed, but I knew my best friend, and he understood why he couldn't post it. I finished getting us some food and brought it all back to the dressing room. I got back to the room and Ally was really excited to show me what she came up with for the song. I set the food down by the piano and sat down with her as she showed me what she had.

"So I'm thinking we have the verses be a little more hip hop than pop, I think you should sing those, then when we hit the bridge we both sing as the song picks up more of the pop melody." It was an awesome idea and we started working on making the music work. Then after a bit Ally had an idea, "Why don't you work on writing the lyrics for the verses, and I'll finish up the music and write the bridge. I think we have a winner with this one."

"Me too, but I'm not sure I can write the lyrics, I'm a whole lot better when we're working together."

"Nonsense, some of the best songs you've ever sung have been the ones you wrote yourself. You're a good songwriter Austin, just try to get inspired. This is a pretty personal song isn't it?"

"Yeah I guess I'll give it a try. I grabbed my song book and decided to go find a quiet corner out in the auditorium somewhere and let Ally work on the music alone for a while. I sat for a while in silence just trying to find inspiration. I thought back on all that Ally and I had accomplished together. I couldn't help but smile, we'd always had a lot of fun together. The words started coming to mind and I scribbled them down in my book. I was making pretty good progress when I was interrupted by Cassidy.

"What are you working on there, Blondie?" She had never called me that when we were dating but I kind of liked the nickname now that we were just friends.

"Just some lyrics to a song Ally and I are working on. It should be really cool. We might have to add it to the show at some point." She went quiet and I scribbled another line into the book.

"You and Ally are cute together," she paused for a second, "You should tell her how much you love her." If I had been drinking something it would have been a pretty classic spit take because I couldn't believe what she just said.

"I don't love her, who told you that I did? Did Trish say something?" I rambled a little bit.

"Come on Austin, I can see it in your face. You're eyes light up when you think about her. It's always been like that, I saw from the beginning, but like you I wanted to believe that you could like me just as much as her."

I didn't want her to feel bad, "I did like you as much as I like her."

"Oh so now you're admitting that you like her." Damnit she walked me right into that one, I had no choice but to admit it now.

"Yeah I like her. I like her a lot, " I couldn't help but smile. The smile faded as I thought about everything else, "But I'm not sure she likes me the same way, plus things could get all weird and I might ruin the tour by telling her."

"Wow, what happened to the guy who came into a busy restaurant and sang the girl he liked a love song he had written for her. That guy had some balls." I smiled a bit with her remembering that day. "Austin, think about how close you are with Ally." I did and smiled again, "Do you really think you can ruin that by simply telling her the truth? Sure things might be a little weird at first, but you guys will get through it. You'll never know how she feels until you open up to her about your own feelings." As she gave me that awesome advice I couldn't help but think how awesome she was and how lucky the guy who finally lands her was going to be.

I looked up at her and smiled, "I can't believe I let you slip through my fingers."

She smiled back as she stood up to go, "Let's face it, Blondie, I'm just to good for you." At that she headed back to her band.

I finished writing the verses to our new song and flipped back to another song I had already been working on. I couldn't help it, Ally inspired so much in me. Eventually I decided I should get back and see where Ally was with the music and bridge. When I made it back to the room Ally was all set to play me the music. It sounded great and when she got to the bridge she sang the lyrics she worked out and I joined in as picked up the words. This was really turning into an awesome song. I showed her the verses and we worked out a cool ending and sang the whole song together. It was really awesome and it made me wanna make it the tour's theme song. I wanted to open every show with it.

I looked at my watch and saw that the show was starting in three hours. I grabbed Ally by the arm and ran out to find Trish. I knew she wasn't gonna be happy, but I just had to see if we could sing the new song at the concert that night. When we found Trish it looked like she had finally gotten a chance to take a break and that show was finally all set and ready to go. I was pretty sure she was gonna kill me when I told her my plan.

"You wanna do what now?" I was right, I'm pretty sure murder was written in her eyes.

"Ally and I just finished a new song and we wanna perform it tonight."

"Are you kidding me? There's no way we can get a whole new song staged, light, and rehearsed in three hours. You must be crazy."

"Come on Trish, please, I know we can do it. It's a great song and I really think it could be the theme of the whole tour. I know we can get it done." I paused for a second and thought of an idea. "I'm sure a lesser tour manager would have trouble with this but I know you can do it."

Trish was still mad, but I knew sucking up to her would totally work. She went right back into ruthless dictator mode and started ordering people around. I told her I just wanted it to be Ally on the piano and me with my guitar, with the drummer and bassist in the background. We decided it should open our show so Trish ordered the stage manager to prep the stage hands on how to transition from the new set up into the next song of the set. Ally and I went to work with the bassist and drummer so that we could get them up to speed on the song, within an hour we had everything planned out but the lighting. The four of us took the stage and did a run through of the song so that the lighting techs could see how things were gonna play out. By our fifth run through they had a pretty could plan in place and were ready for a full on rehearsal. It was amazing and we were ready to go about twenty minutes before they had to open the doors. Dez spent the afternoon getting great shots for the behind the scenes stuff. I was glad he was because this was the kind of thing that our fans were gonna love.

Fast forward almost two hours and Cassidy's band was just finishing their set and the countdown to Austin and Ally began. The stage hands were rushing to reset the stage for the new song and I couldn't wait to get out there and officially start the Austin and Ally tour. The lights went down and Ally took her place behind the piano and I took my place under the stage. The lights went dim and as they slowly came up so did the platform I was on. The fog machines were spitting out fog to hide my entrance and then the lights went on full as I hopped up onto the main stage. The crowd went crazy and I stepped up to the front of the stage with my guitar on my back.

"Are you ready Miami?" The crowd went crazy. I let them go crazy for a few seconds and then quieted them down with my hands. "This first song has an interesting story. Ally and I just finished this song, about four hours ago," they went crazy again. "And we felt so strongly that you should here it tonight that pushed everybody working on this show to the brink just to get it ready to show you tonight. So we'd like to thank all the awesome people who worked so hard behind the scenes to bring you this concert tonight." The Crowd went crazy again and as I started to speak again, the drummer started the beat, "This song is pretty special to Ally and I," the bassist joined in as I swung my guitar into place, "And we've decided to make this the theme of our first tour." At that we all started playing and the crowd noise was almost deafening. I started the first verse right at the front of the stage touching the hands of the fans standing there.

When the crowd wants more

I bring on the thunder

'Cause you got my back

And I'm not going under

I stepped back and started playing again and doing my best to dance with the guitar in my hands.

You're my point

You're my guard

I moved over to the piano and sang this part to Ally.

You're the perfect chord

And I see our names together on every billboard

I pointed to the giant lighted sign that said Austin and Ally behind me. Then Ally joined me as we sang the bridge and chorus together.

We're headed for the top

We got 'em on lock

We'll make 'em say "Hey!"

'Cause there's no stopping us

When we hit the same but different

We're never gonna quit

And we'll keep rocking!

There's no way I can make it without you

Do it without you

Be here without you

It's no fun when you're doing it solo

With you it's like whoa

Yeah and I know

I, own this dream

Cause I've got you with me

There's no way I can make it without you

Do it without you

Be here without you

I hopped up on the piano to start the second verse.

You got the skills

And I'm bringing the fire,

Our pyrotechnic guys were able to whip up a blast of fire at the front of the stage.

You're the fuel to my rocket

And it's taking us higer

I jumped high off the piano as I sang the last line.

Yeah we got my flow

And we're blowin' it UP

Another blast of pyrotechnics.

All our fans are gonna scream!

'Cause they can't get enough

Cue a huge scream from the crowd. Ally jumped back in for rest.

We're headed for the top

We got 'em on lock

We'll make 'em say "Hey!"

'Cause there's no stopping us

When we hit the same but different

Were never gonna quit

And we'll keep rockin', oh!

There's no way I can make it without you

Do it without you

Be here without you

It's no fun when you're doing it solo

With you it's like whoa

Yeah and I know

I, own this dream

'Cause I've got you with me

There's no way I can make it without you

Do it without you

Be here without you

(Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!)

I keep on rockin' with you

(Oh! Oh! Oh!)

And there's no stoppin us

(Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!)

I keep on rockin' with you

Ke-keep on rockin'

I, will keep on rockin!

There's no way I can make it without you

Do it without you

Be here without you

It's no fun when you're doing it solo

With you it's like whoa

Yeah and I know

I, own this dream

'Cause I've got you with me

There's no way I can make it without you

Do it without you

Be here without you!

Waaoh

Be here without you

Waaoohoh

Be here without you - out you - out you

Be here without you - out you - out you!

The song brought and incredible energy to the entire arena and I knew we made the right decision to open the show with it. I also knew that it was gonna be the song we opened every show with. The rest of the show was incredible, Ally was as much a hit with them as I was and I couldn't believe how great everything went. After the show all of Team Austin was on an incredible high. I felt like I could do anything and I decided that it was time to have a few words with Ally in private. I asked Dez and Trish to go get ready for the fan meet and greet we were gonna do after the show and they both left.

"Ally, that was amazing, I've never felt anything more exciting in my entire life. I can't believe we get to do this for a living."

"I know, Austin, its the most incredible feeling I've ever felt."

"It's only the second most incredible feeling I've ever felt," I know you're cringing because you know that the corniest line in the world is coming up next. But I'm not embarrassed.

"What's the most incredible feeling you've had?" Ally asked me as I stepped closer to her. She started breathing deeply as we leaned into each other.

I whispered to her, "The feeling I get every time I'm alone with you." I'm not embarrassed by that insanely sappy line, because, it totally worked. I closed the gap between us and pressed my lips against hers.

*Author's note: Obviously I don't own the rights to any of the above lyrics. I figured I should make that clear before the Disney machine signs my death warrant. I'm not sure if I'll ever right out another song in here again, but it being the first concert of the tour I really wanted to give a concert feel. I hope you enjoyed it.


	17. I Think About You

To say that the kiss was good might be the biggest understatement since the Chinese built the mini wall of China. I felt like our entire relationship from the day we met in Sonic Boom changed entirely because of that kiss. All those moments we spent together writing music or just hanging out, the times we gave each other advice or were just there to cheer each other up; it all took on a completely different meaning once we kissed. It was like the close friendship we shared for so long was just a precursor to something more. I just wished the moment didn't have to end, but it did and looking back on it I wish the whole night had ended when the kiss did.

We broke apart from the kiss and I couldn't help but smile. Ally smiled too, I couldn't believe that it finally happened. Ally got all shy and her smile faded, I figured I'd better be the first to say something, "Ally, that was amazing, that was incredibly, that was..."

"A mistake," Ally said softly as she looked away from me.

"What? What do you mean? Ally I thought you liked me too. And that kiss was unbelievable." I smiled at her again and reached out to grab her hand.

She pulled her hand away and spoke, "Austin, that kiss was amazing, but we can't do this. We're both running off emotional highs from the concert tonight and you and Cassidy just broke up. We may like each other right now, but there's so much else going on, I'm not sure I can handle trying to figure out this whole thing too. I think we should both just take some time to think about it and then after the tour is over, we can talk about it."

I was crushed. "I don't need time to think about it Ally, I know how I feel about you and no amount of time is going to change it." I tried to grab her hand again, but she pulled away again.

"Austin, not two days you were dating another girl. How can I possibly believe that your feelings changed that quickly? I'm not sure I believe that you really know what you want right now. I need time to think about it and I think you do too. We shouldn't rush into something like this. We could ruin everything if it didn't work out."

I sighed, I didn't want to wait and see what we thought at the end of the tour, I wanted to be with Ally right then and there. But I could tell Ally wasn't ready for it and I didn't want to put that much pressure on her, "Okay, Ally, if that's what you want, we'll wait, but I think you're wrong. The only thing that's gonna change for us by the end of the tour is that we'll be three months older and we'll have wasted all that time that we could have spent together."

"Austin I know that's what you think, but I know I'm right, we need to wait and make sure this is real before we rush into anything. Why don't we just forget the whole kiss thing happened and go on with the tour as friends."

"There's no way I'm forgetting that kiss, but I have no problem being friends for now, you'll always be my friend Ally." I pulled her into a hug and we both smiled.

I told myself that night after we went our separate ways that I wasn't going to let things get awkward between us and for the most part, it worked. Most of the time on tour we hung out like we always did, but instead of putting me in a great mood like it always used to, now it makes me a bit sad. Don't get me wrong I still loved hanging out with Ally, but every time we went our separate ways all I could think about was the fact that we weren't together.

I found myself spending a lot of time by myself on tour. I'm normally the life of the party, but I just didn't feel like being around people all the time. I pretty much just hung out with the rest of Team Austin on our bus. I did a lot of song writing in my solitude, I guess I found a lot of inspiration in my longing.

The tour itself was going great we were doing two or three shows a week in different cities all over the country and we were having a lot of fun doing it. Ally and I still had the same chemistry when we sang as we always did, if not more so. I think singing was the only time Ally really let herself feel her true feelings for me and it was awesome. Of course, when the shows were over things were right back to the weird friend zone state our relationship had fallen into. He essentially tried to ignore everything we were feeling for each other and just have fun as friends. But let me tell you it was not an easy thing to do.

So after shows especially I was usually pretty down. As much as I understood where Ally was coming from, I had a hard time accepting that we were in very different places in regards to our relationship. I guess I was just impatient. So instead of resenting Ally for it, I just tried to let out all those emotions through my song writing. I dig into it whenever I felt a little depressed about the whole situation and it made me feel a lot better.

I was having one of those times about a month into the tour, I think it was like the second week of June or so, I don't really remember, days kind of all merged together on tour. Anyway we were in the middle of one of our longest trips of the tour. We were going all the way from Chicago to Denver. It was near the end of the trip and we were all getting really tired of being on the bus.

I was sitting in the corner with my headphones in playing with some lyrics in my song book. Ally was back on her bed reading or something. I'm pretty sure Trish was napping and Dez was fooling around with his camera and really starting to get on my nerves. I turned my music off because I had a melody come to mind and I wanted to let it kind of soak in. That's when I heard what Dez was saying into his camera.

"And that's Austin sulking over in the corner with his song book. He does that a lot now. He keeps saying he's just gotten really serious about his song writing, but I know the truth. You see, he's depressed because the girls he likes rejected him." He paused and gave a look of shock and awe to the camera, " I know right? A girl turning down a guy like Austin seems ridiculous. I mean, come one, he's dreamy." Dez over exaggerated batting his eyes and sighed. I think he zoomed in on me because he then said, "Just look at him he's like an adorable little lovestruck puppy. How could anyone not fall for those eyes?"

I wasn't liking where he was going with it, "Dez cut it out, no one needs to hear about all this."

He ignored me, "Oh my, he speaks, and while I know he's right that you don't need to hear about this. I have a sneaking suspicion that you all want to hear about it." I just closed my eyes and laid my head down on the table, I was hoping he'd just shut up and leave me alone. It wasn't to be, "Awe look at that, he's like a sad little Christmas elf. And it's all because Ally rejected him." He whispered that last part into the camera but I heard him anyway.

I was getting mad, "Dez, if you don't turn off that stupid camera, I swear to God we're leaving you at the next rest stop." I lifted my head up and looked him straight in the eye so he would know I was serious about this next part, "And if you ever, and I mean, ever post this video anywhere online, I will hunt you down and beat your ass." I figured that would shut him up.

He got quiet for a second before he looked straight into the camera and said, "He's an angry elf." With that he turned it off and started talking to me. "I'm sorry Austin, but I'm bored, you've gone all emo on me and we hardly ever hang out anymore."

I knew it was true, I felt bad for kind of ignoring Dez since Ally and I kissed. "I'm sorry, Dez. I just have a lot on my mind and I just haven't been in the mood to mess around much."

"I know Austin, but in a way you're doing it to yourself."

"What do you mean?"

"Well you're only like this because you and Ally aren't talking like you used to. Sure you guys are playing nice, but you're hardly as open with each other as you used to be. You gotta stop dancing around the topic of the kiss and just talk about it. Until you do, you're just gonna keep feeling alone and depressed. Keeping stuff bottled up isn't good for you Austin."

I knew Dez was right. Ally and I hadn't been talking like we used to and I was having trouble dealing with that. Ally and I needed each other emotionally. We had spent so much time over the last eight months opening up to each other and relying on each other, that now that we cut that element of our relationship out, we couldn't handle things very well. Dez was a lot more insightful than people gave him credit for and he was definitely right about Ally and I needing to talk about the kiss and our feelings for each other, but I felt like I'd already done my part. She's the one that said she needed time and she was gonna have to be the one to start the conversation again. I certainly didn't wanna do it only to be rejected again.

Anyway when we finally got to Denver it was almost midnight and we were excited to check into a hotel and sleep in a real bed for a change. We'd spent the last couple nights sleeping on the bus and it was certainly getting old. The next day was my big concert at Red Rocks Amphitheatre which, from what I'd heard was a pretty incredible outdoor venue in the foothills just outside of Denver. I loved outdoor venues and had heard some pretty amazing things about this one so I was really excited.

The next morning we headed over to Red Rocks to check it out and get ready for the event. The view of the city from it were unbelievable, it would have been even better if it wasn't so hazy. I wondered a bit about why it was so hazy, but didn't get much of a chance to wonder because Ally and I were whisked off to do some press. The Red Rocks performance was meant to be the launching point of our West Coast swing, so we had to start in with press to get people on the far side of the country excited about the tour.

By this point in the tour Ally and I were pretty familiar with the questions we were going to be asked so we breezed through the press stuff. Then with a couple hours to spare we were brought back to the venue to get ready. That's when I remembered to ask somebody about the haze over the city. I asked one of the local guys who worked at Red Rocks about it. He told me that it wasn't haze, that it was smoke from a wildfire south near Colorado Springs. He said that his family lived down there and that thousands of people had been evacuated.

I couldn't believe that I hadn't heard about it, it sounded like big deal. When he saw I was interested he told me how it was probably going to be the most destructive fire in the state's history, destroying hundreds of homes. Then he told me that it would probably top the fire that happened the summer before in a different part of Colorado Springs that also destroyed hundreds of homes.

I'm not sure why the stories of these wildfires affected me so much, but they did. I guess I couldn't imagine something like that happening to me or my city and then to hear that it happened not once, but twice to the same city made me feel sick. I couldn't help but imagine what it must feel like to be forced out of your home only to wonder whether you had a home left at all or not. The thoughts of the tragedy. happening so close to where I was, that the smoke from it was invading my concert, really made me think. My thoughts were interrupted when I was told I had to get ready to perform.

I loved the venue and the crowd and I was pretty sure it was one of my favorite shows of the tour so far, but even after the high of playing that concert I couldn't get the thoughts of that fire out of my head. After we got back to the hotel, I went and found Trish. I knew the tour had about a week until our next performance and I decided I wanted to try and convince Trish to let us stay another day or two and try to play a benefit concert for those affected by the fire. She was hesitant about changing plans so suddenly, but I think she could tell how important it had become to me. She gave in and started making calls about putting together a benefit concert on short notice.

I decided to go tell Ally and Dez what were gonna do. Dez was thrilled not only because he loved helping people, but also because he couldn't wait to show our fans the behind the scenes moments of our impromptu benefit concert. Ally seemed as excited about it as I was and suggested that we go down there the next day and try to cheer up some of the evacuees. I loved her thoughtfulness and pretty much decided that it was definitely going to happen.

Sure enough the next morning Ally, Dez, and I and a few other people got up early and went down to Colorado Springs. Somebody did some research and found the location of a red cross shelter for evacuees. When we got there we were told that most of the evacuees were either staying with family or friends, or found a hotel room somewhere in the city. But we could see that there were families in there that had nowhere else to go. Other evacuees who weren't staying there seemed to go there for information about what was happening. There was this odd calm amongst the people there.

When we went into the gym of the school they were staying at a bunch of kids recognized Ally and myself and ran over to us in excitement. It was great to see the smiles on their faces. I could only imagine how scary the whole thing must have been for them. Its not often kids have to abandon their homes and run for their lives and from the stories I heard there it sounded like some people had to do exactly that. As the kids began to move onto other things, it seemed like the parents welcomed the change in environment and many came over to speak with us and we learned a lot more about what they were going through. Many people had no idea if they still had a home or not while a few had already learned that they lost it and nobody was confident that their home was safe.

I couldn't believe how some people were able to take the news of losing their home so well. One guy told me that he was just grateful that he and his family made it out safely. He knew that their home was gone, and I could tell it hit him hard, but he just smiled at me and told me he was just happy that he'd have the opportunity to jump into the new adventure of starting over. He said the tragedy had shocked him into appreciating his family all the more. He told me to never take the people in my life for granted because tragedy could strike at any time.

I was truly inspired by that man and it made me realize how stupid I was being for allowing Ally and I's relationship to suffer the way it had. She was one of the most important people in my life and I'd allowed my stubbornness to keep her at a distance ever since that kiss. I knew I needed to talk to her so that we could at the very least get back to the way things were before the tour started.

It also inspired me to write a song about getting over your fears and anxieties and take the next step to move on with your life. It reminded me of Ally overcoming her stage fright and of the night I told Ally how I felt about her. Once we put aside our fear of the unknown we were able to step forward with confidence and make things happen for ourselves. Obviously our situations weren't quite as grim as the people we met that day, but the sentiment was at least the same.

Just as we were leaving and getting ready to head back up to our hotel in Denver, Trish called us and told us that she had been able to set up a benefit concert for the following night and had even lined up The Red Cross and the local food bank as the benefactors of our ticket sales. She told us that one of the local news networks had gotten wind of the concert and wanted to air it live and provide a call center where people could donate over the phone or even text donations. I was really excited that I was gonna be able to give back with my music instead of just reaping the rewards.

By nightfall, we were back at our hotel in Denver making plans for the concert the next day. Cassidy and her band had set up meetings with record labels during the week off from the tour and weren't gonna be able to join us for the concert. It was sad, but we could make do. We decided that we were going to keep the show pretty much the same as the tour. However I did ask for some time to try out a couple of new songs I'd been working on and everybody thought it was a great idea and squeezed those into the end. I knew it was gonna be a great show. After the meeting broke up, I asked Ally if I could have a few minutes to speak with her.

We went out into the lobby and found a quiet corner to sit and talk. "So you've written some new songs? That's awesome I can't wait to hear them." Ally was quiet, it almost seemed like she was hurt that she hadn't known about the songs. And I guess I didn't blame her, normally she'd be the first to know about them, but we hadn't been talking like that recently.

"Yeah, I've got quite a few actually; I'm excited about them." We were both quiet for a couple minutes, I think she knew I wanted to finally talk about our relationship. I spoke up after a minute or so. "Ally I have some things I want to say about us and I just want to get them out there. Will you let me say them and not say anything until I finish?" She nodded.

"Ally, I've missed us being able to talk about anything with each other. I've missed being your best friend recently. Dez said something pretty smart a couple of days ago. He said that we could never get back to the way things were before if we didn't talk about what happened that first night of the tour. I knew he was right when he said it, but I was stubborn and thought that you should be the one to start the conversation."

"But today at that shelter, one of the people I met there told me that, I should be sure to hold the ones closest to me just a little bit closer. That's what gave me the courage to finally decide to have this conversation."

"I'm not sure if I accurately communicated my feelings about you." I paused and took a deep breath, "Ally, I love you. I think I've always loved you. I just feel better when I'm around you and can't imagine my life without you. I know you're scared about our relationship and what it might change between us, but I'm not. We're best friends now and we'll keep being best friends if we start dating."

"But I want you to know that I understand your fears and if even after this you think its best just to keep things the way they are, I'll accept that. I'll love you whether we're dating or simply best friends. I won't hold anything against you and I won't feel like you've betrayed me. I just want to be able to share my life with you like I did back before this tour ever started. I've missed you Ally and no matter what you decide regarding our relationship, I want you back."

By the end of my little speech both Ally and I were tearing up a bit. She jumped towards me and pulled me into a hug resting her head on my chest. I wrapped my arms around her and held her while we tried to recover.

She finally sat up and started to speak, "Austin, I..." there was hesitation in her voice and I knew she was still unsure so I put my hand up telling her to stop.

"Ally, don't feel like you have to make any decisions tonight. All I want to know tonight is that I have my best friend back.

She smiled at me as she started to tear up again and said, "I'm back." I slept like a rock that night. I had said what needed to be said and finally shared my feelings for Ally. If she still didn't want to consider a relationship together than I was okay with that. Sure it would hurt, but I did all I could do to show her how I felt and if that wasn't enough to change her mind, than I would be more than happy to settle with her being my best friend and partner for the rest of our lives.

The next day flew by and Ally and I were back to our old selves. She didn't seem at all pressured to make a decision and that's exactly how I wanted it. It was one of the most fun days we'd had together in a long time, even if it was a busy one. I worked out performances for the two new songs that I was going to play that night. The first one was gonna be more of a production and required some planning, but I wanted the second one to just be me and my guitar and I didn't let anyone else hear it beforehand. I also decided that we should make another adjustment to the show by moving, "Can't Do it Without You" from the beginning of the show to the end of the show after my new songs.

We were holding the concert in an enormous church sanctuary in Colorado Springs that sat thousands of people. We weren't sure if we were gonna sell out, but we figured if we didn't we'd just open the rest of the seat up to anyone that wanted them. We apparently had very little to fear however because even on the short notice we sold out the entire place. The cameras were in place and we were told that the call center accepting donations was fully manned and ready to go. Right before the show started I met the reps from both the charities that we were working with. They wanted to thank me personally for putting on the show, apparently word had spread that the whole thing was my idea. I took the opportunity to hand deliver my donation to each charity. My career had taken off and I was starting to make more money than a sixteen year old knew what do with. The cause became personal to me and I just had to give something. I realized just how important giving back was to me and I knew that it was going to be the start of what would be a life of philanthropy.

The show was going great, word backstage was that we were raising tens of thousands of dollars to help rebuild a broken community and I couldn't have been happier. The time came for my brand new songs and I took a big breath as Ally finished up "You Don't See Me." As she walked off and I walked on we made eye contact. We kept it until she found a spot just off stage with a perfect view of the stage and I knew she'd be there the whole time to support me and my new songs. I smiled at her before I turned around and ran back on stage.

I quieted the crowd down a bit because I wanted to say something. "I wanted to thank all of you for your support her and for letting us come and share in your community for a few days." They all cheered. "Coming here in the midst of this tragedy has really affected me; I'm not sure I'll ever be the same. I know I'll never take anything for granted ever again." I paused thoughtfully for a second, "I've been amazed by the hope and love I've witnessed in this community. I met one man who lost his home this last week and the resiliency he had is what inspired me to write this next song. This song is about overcoming fears and doubts and taking a leap of faith. When I was a kid, I was afraid of heights, but I remember finally overcoming that fear. It was on a diving board at the pool, I was determined I was gonna do it, but still scared to death. My dad took me aside and gave me some really simple advice, 'Don't look down and just jump.' I thought of this advice this week as I considered the kinds of fears and doubts that members of your community must be going through right now as they try to rebuild their lives. So this song is for them and everybody else out there who just needs to be told, 'Don't look down.'"

At that the band started playing and the music came to life. Throughout the song I couldn't help but glance over at Ally just off stage. In a way I hoped that she would hear the words of the song and take them to heart as well. I hoped she'd put her fears and doubts behind her and jump into my arms. The song was great and by the look in Ally's eyes I was pretty sure she was paying attention. When the song ended the crowd roared and my band made its way off stage.

Once again I quieted the crowd down with my hands. "This is a special concert and you guys are getting a special treat, I'm gonna perform another brand new song. This one's very personal and it's written with someone special in mind." I glanced over at Ally, "The other lesson I learned this week was to keep the people you're closest to, close. This one's for you Ally." The crowd went crazy over the revelation that I wrote the song for Ally.

I started playing my guitar and faced the audience as I started the first verse.

Last summer we met.

We started as friends.

I can't tell you how it all happened.

Then autumn it came.

We were never the same.

Those nights, everything felt like magic.

I turned a bit so that I could see Ally as I sang the next part.

And I wonder if you miss me too.

If you don't it's the one thing that I wish you knew:

I think about you every morning when I open my eyes.

I think about you every evening when I turn out the lights.

I think about you every moment, every day of my life.

You're on my mind all the time. It's true.

I think about you, you you, you you

I think about you, you you, you you

I could see tears forming in her eyes as I started the second verse.

Would you know what to say

If I saw you today?

Would you let it all crumble to pieces?

'Cause I know that I should

Forget you if I could.

I can't yet for so many reasons.

I had full on turned toward Ally at that point, I was singing to her, not the audience.

I think about you every morning when I open my eyes

I think about you every evening when I turn out the lights

I think about you every moment, every day of my life

You're on my mind all the time. It's true

I think about you, you you, you you.

I think about you, you you, you you.

I wasn't sure when it started, but I realized that I was all of a sudden a lot closer to Ally and she had moved onto the side of the stage closer to me.

How long 'til I stop pretending

What we have is never ending.

Oh, oh, oh.

If all we are is just a moment,

Don't forget me cause I won't and

I can't help myself.

I think about you. Ooh, ooh.

I think about you. Ooh.

At this point we were only inches apart and I had completely forgotten that I was even on a stage performing in front of other people.

I think about you every morning when I open my eyes.

I think about you every evening when I turn out the lights.

I think about you every moment, every day of my life.

You're on my mind all the time. It's true.

I think about you, you, you, you, you.

I think about you, you, you, you, you.

The last you of the song was cut short because I pushed my guitar behind me and reached out to hug Ally. She pulled away quickly and I put my hand on her cheek and kissed her softly on the lips. The thunderous applause that followed reminded us that we had just done that in front of a live audience and a local television audience. We both turned red, but gratefully our band returned to the stage and started playing the intro to "Can't Do It Without You" and we went back to center stage and closed out the concert with a bang. I'm writing this now from my hotel room having just gotten back from the show and I can already tell you that this will forever be the greatest night of my life.

*Author's note: Once again, I don't own the song so don't report me or anything. This is by far the longest chapter and I think it might be the last one. I have other ideas, but this just feels complete as is. If I get enough encouragement I might add some more, but I am more than happy with the result even if the end is a little bit corny.


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